TEHRAN -- Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin says Dublin has no interest in making unfounded judgments about the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
In a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Hussein Amir-Abdollahian on Thursday, Martin said Ireland recognizes Iran’s significant role in the fight against terrorism.
He also appreciated a recent decision by Iran to release an Irish national on humanitarian grounds.
Amir-Abdollahian strongly condemned the Swedish parliament’s decision to blacklist the IRGC, saying that the move has been instigated by terrorists and anti-Iran individuals.
“This move has been engineered by terrorist elements and individuals disavowed by the Iranian nation,” he said.
He noted that the IRGC has played a major role in fighting terrorism, describing the force as “a sovereign institution.”
The top diplomat said the IRGC “is responsible for safeguarding national and border security, and holds the paramount position in combating terrorism in the region.”
Amir-Abdollahian also pointed to the various areas of cooperation between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Ireland, underscoring the need for seizing available opportunities in a way that could serve the interests of both countries.
Martin noted that his country is determined to further expand cooperation with Iran.
The Irish foreign minister hailed Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), expressing Ireland’s support for initiatives aimed at removal of anti-Iran sanctions.
He also extended an invitation to Amir-Abdollahian to pay an official trip to Dublin, saying he hopes to visit Tehran in the near future.
The IRGC was established on April 22, 1979, by the founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini as a paramilitary organization charged with protecting the newborn Islamic Republic.
The force closely cooperates with the Iranian Army to counter foreign threats as manifested during

the 8-year war imposed by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein on Iran in the 1980s.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Thursday strongly condemned Sweden’s blacklisting of the IRGC, saying the designation violates international law and amounts to an aggression against the Islamic Republic’s sovereignty and national security.
“The Swedish parliament’s illegal act is influenced by terrorist and banished elements working against the Iranian nation,” he said.
“The anti-Iranian move is contrary to accepted rules and principles of international law, including the equality of [national] sovereignties and non-interference in the internal affairs of governments, and tantamount to an aggression against Iran’s sovereignty and national security,” the official added.
Kanaani also advised the Swedish government to exercise “foresight and tact” in the face of plots hatched to damage Tehran-Stockholm relations.
The Swedish government, he said, should “think about the consequences of its unmeasured act and not sacrifice its national interests and long-standing ties with Iran for the interests of terrorists, the Zionist apartheid regime and the enemies of the Iranian nation.”
Kanaani said the IRGC is a state institution that has emerged from the Iranian nation with an official and legal identity enshrined in the Constitution, noting that the elite military force, along with other units of the Armed Forces, has been protecting Iran’s national security and borders.