Iran Hits Back at Europe, Labels EU Armies as Terrorists

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf stated on Sunday that Iran views the armies of EU nations that included the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the bloc’s list of terrorist organizations as “terrorist groups.”

Following what proved to be one of Iran’s deadliest protest crackdowns since its founding in 1979, the EU made a symbolic change in its stance toward Iran’s government on Thursday by labeling the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.

Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told his fellow MPs, who were all dressed in Revolutionary Guards uniforms to support the elite force, “By trying to hit the Revolutionary Guards… the Europeans actually shot themselves in the foot and once again made a decision against the interests of their people by blindly obeying the Americans.”

“The armies of European nations are regarded as terrorist groups under Article 7 of the law on countermeasures against the designation of the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.”

Qalibaf further stated that the National Security Parliamentary Commission would discuss the expulsion of military attachés from EU nations and follow up with the Foreign Ministry on the matter.

The IRGC, which was established in the wake of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 to defend the country’s ruling system, has significant influence over large portions of the military forces and economy.