EU ministers approve new Iran sanctions after Tehran’s crackdown on protests

European Union foreign ministers adopted new sanctions on Iran on Thursday targeting individuals and entities involved in a violent crackdown on protesters and in the country’s support to Russia, EU diplomats said on Thursday.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in a post on social media platform X that the sanctions include members of the Iranian government, judiciary, police and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as entities responsible for internet censorship.

The EU’s foreign ministers are also expected to reach a political agreement on Thursday to include the IRGC on the bloc’s list of terrorist organisations, putting the powerful guards in a category similar to that of Islamic State and al Qaeda and marking a symbolic shift in Europe’s approach to Iran’s leadership.

“If you act as a terrorist, you should also be treated as a terrorist,” European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of a gathering of the ministers in Brussels.

Set up after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system, the IRGC has great sway in the country, controlling swathes of the economy and armed forces. The guards were also put in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programmes.

While some EU member states have previously pushed for the IRGC to be added to the EU’s terrorist list, others have been more cautious, fearing that it could hinder communication with Iran’s government and endanger European citizens inside the country.

But a brutal crackdown on a nationwide protest movement earlier this month, killing thousands of people, increased momentum for the move.

“It’s important that we send this signal that the bloodshed that we’ve seen, the bestiality of the violence that’s been used against protesters, cannot be tolerated,” Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel said on Thursday morning.

France and Italy, which were previously reluctant to list the IRGC, lent their backing this week.

Despite concerns from some capitals that a decision to label the IRGC a terror organisation could lead to a complete breakdown in ties with Iran, Kallas told reporters that “the estimate is that still the diplomatic channels will remain open, even after the listing of the Revolutionary Guards”.