US Lawmakers Urge EU to Declare IRGC a Terrorist Organization

A bipartisan group of 130 lawmakers urged the European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, to designate the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

In their letter to Borrell, the lawmakers urged the European official to resolve the issue urgently, noting that the IRGC had "freely and openly carried out plots targeting citizens in countries across the EU.

The representatives, led by Kathy Manning, Bill Keating, and Thomas Kean, added that Iran is a leading state sponsor of terror, and the IRGC has supported and participated in human rights abuses and terrorist activities.

The letter is based on a study by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, which showed that Iran "instigated more than 33 plots to surveil, abduct, or assassinate citizens in Europe."

The lawmakers responded to Borrell's statement that the inclusion of the Revolutionary Guards on terrorist lists must take place through the courts, despite the European Parliament's vote in favor of it.

"We understand the legal complexities involved in designating the IRCS as a terrorist organization pursuant to EU law," the letter read, adding that they "fully appreciated the need for this decision to be adjudicated by either a judicial or equivalent competent authority. But given the growing threat that Iran poses to EU countries and their citizens, we urge you to treat this issue with the utmost urgency."

Last January, the European Parliament voted in favor of an amendment to a law that would approve including the IRGC in the terror list.

Borrell said it was "something that cannot be decided without a court. A court decision is needed first. You cannot say: "I consider you a terrorist because I do not like you"."

It is not the first time that Congress has criticized the European Union's "reluctance" to include the Guards on terrorist lists, as Republican senators previously considered that this hesitation would threaten efforts to confront Iran and Russia.

In a previous letter to Borrell last month, they said: "We write to express our disappointment in the European Union's (EU) hesitation to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran as an addition to the EU Terror List."

"Amidst the IRGC's ongoing support of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, EU reluctance both weakens our collective resolve against Russia and ignores the Iranian government's goal of sowing terror in the West."

The Senators, led by the senior Republican in the Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Risch, referred to the European Parliament resolution identifying Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism.

The growing alignment of Russian and Iranian activities, including using Iranian drones in Ukraine, complicates the IRGC in Russia's terror. An IRGC terror designation will sharpen and align the US and EU responses to Russian aggression.

In 2019, the US put the Revolutionary Guards on the terrorist list, a year after former US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Tehran and to adopt a policy of maximum pressure by imposing sanctions.

Iran stipulated the removal of the IRGC from the terrorist list after the nuclear negotiations faltered in March last year, but it retracted this condition after the Biden administration pledged to meet Tehran's demand to reduce regional tension.

The EU adopted a policy of imposing sanctions on Iran in January because of its support for Russia in its war against Ukraine, but without including the IRGC on its list of terrorist organizations.

IRGC commanders warned the EU against placing the organization on its terrorist list.

A staggering 281 aid workers have been killed around the world so far this year, making 2024 the deadliest year for humanitarians, the UN aid chief said Friday.
"Humanitarian workers are being killed at an unprecedented rate, their courage and humanity being met with bullets and bombs," said Tom Fletcher, the United Nations' new under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator.
With more than a month left to go of 2024, the "grim milestone was reached", he said, after 280 humanitarians were killed across 33 countries during all of 2023.
"This violence is unconscionable and devastating to aid operations," Fletcher said.
Israel's devastating war in Gaza was driving up the numbers, his office said, with 333 aid workers killed there -- most from the UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA -- since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attacks, which sparked the war, AFP reported.
"States and parties to conflict must protect humanitarians, uphold international law, prosecute those responsible, and call time on this era of impunity," Fletcher said.
Aid workers were subject to kidnappings, injuries, harassment and arbitrary detention in a range of countries, his office said, including Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, and Ukraine.
The majority of deaths involve local staff working with non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and the Red Cross Red Crescent movement, Fletcher's office said.
"Violence against humanitarian personnel is part of a broader trend of harm to civilians in conflict zones," it warned.
"Last year, more than 33,000 civilian deaths were recorded in 14 armed conflicts -- a staggering 72 per cent increase from 2022."
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution last May in response to the surging violence and threats against aid workers.
The text called for recommendations from the UN chief -- set to be presented at a council meeting next week -- on measures to prevent and respond to such incidents and to increase protection for humanitarian staff and accountability for abuses.

US Lawmakers Urge EU to Declare IRGC a Terrorist Organization