Iran: France not ruling out designating Revolutionary Guards as terrorist organization

The French foreign ministry said it has not ruled out designating Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization. This follows Germany’s comments that the designation would make sense in light of the ongoing protests.

On Tuesday, French foreign ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre told reporters that Paris has not ruled out the notion of the European Union designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran as a terrorist organization. German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said the day before that a new round of sanctions would not be enough.

“Given the continuation of this repression, France is working with its European partners on new sanctions measures, without excluding any,” Legendre told reporters during a news briefing.

“Listing the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization is politically important and makes sense,” tweeted Baerbock, adding that legal hurdles must still be cleared in order to make a move.

Relations between Iran and France have since deteriorated in recent months over issues such as the stalled talks to revive the nuclear deal, Tehran’s detaining of seven French nationals, and Paris’s condemnation of Iran’s crackdown on the ongoing protests.

The EU is already in discussions to issue a fourth round of sanctions on Iran over the crackdown and its alleged supply of drones to Russia. Some EU member countries have called for the bloc to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

The United Kingdom is also expected to come to a decision on the issue in the coming weeks. While France has been reluctant to make such a designation of the IRGC, Paris has left the door open for the possibility in light of the executions of people for protest-related charges and the closer ties between Tehran and Moscow.

The semi-official ISNA news outlet on Monday reported that the activist daughter of former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was sentenced by the judiciary to five years in prison. The lawyer for Faezeh Hashemi did not give details on the charges against the former president’s daughter.

However, Tehran’s public prosecutor indicted Faezeh Hashemi last year on charges of “propaganda against the system,” according to the news outlet. State media back in September reported that Faezeh Hashemi was arrested for “inciting riots” in Tehran during the protests that erupted across the country following the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police.