The head of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological army of the Islamic Republic, warned the European Union on Saturday against the “error” that it would constitute in his eyes to add them to the list of terrorist organizations as claimed by the European Parliament.
“If the Europeans make a mistake, they will have to bear the consequences,” Revolutionary Guards Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami said, according to Sepah News, the entity’s official website. This was Hossein Salami’s first comment after the European Parliament’s decision.
Repression and drones
MEPs on Thursday adopted a resolution calling on the European Union and its member states to include the Guardians, considered by experts to be the country’s most powerful military and security force, on the EU’s list of “terrorist organisations”. .
They implicate the Guardians in “the repression of demonstrators” mobilized against power since the death on September 16 of Mahsa Amini, but also for “the supply of drones to Russia” in the context of the war in Ukraine.
Several diplomats said on Friday that the EU had not yet taken a decision on whether the Guardians should be listed as “terrorist organisations”. On the other hand, according to them, it will impose new sanctions against 37 Iranian persons or entities involved in the repression of the demonstrations.
Hundreds of people killed
The Guardians oversee the Bassij (Islamist volunteer corps), which has been deployed in the face of protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, who died after being arrested by vice police for breaking the code. strict dress of the Islamic Republic.
Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, were killed during the demonstrations and thousands arrested, according to the authorities, who generally denounce “riots”.