Monitoring Desk
TEHRAN: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard officials on Saturday warned the European Union (EU) against making a “mistake” by listing the force as a terror group after the European Parliament called for the measure.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament voted to include the IRGC on the European Union’s terror list in “light of its supplying of drones to Russia, its terrorist activity, and the repression of protesters.”
The vote is non-binding; however, it comes with EU foreign ministers already due to discuss strict sanctions on Iran next week.
“If the European Parliament make a mistake, they must prepare themselves for the consequences,” said IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami in his first remarks on the bloc’s move.
EU “thinks that with such statements it can threaten this huge army,” said Salami.
“We are never worried about such blatant threats or even acting on these threats because as much as our enemies allow us to act, we resort to a much stronger action,” he added.
Revolutionary Guards warns European Union of consequences
The Revolutionary Guards look after the volunteer Basij paramilitary force. The force has been deployed against countrywide protests since mid-September triggered by the custodial death of Mahsa Amini, 22, after her detention for allegedly violating Iran’s dress code for women.
The Guards, formed shortly after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, answer to the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and boast their ground, naval, and air forces.
Read Also: Germany Expects Further Iran Sanctions at EU FMs Meeting
The United States has already placed the IRGC and the Quds Force on its list of “foreign terrorist groups.”
Salami’s comments came as he received the Speaker of Iran’s parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, a former Revolutionary Guards air force commander.
“We in the parliament are ready to firmly deal with any action that aims to harm the Islamic Revolutionary Guard soldiers and distort the reality,” Ghalibaf was quoted as saying by Sepah News.
