As European Union member states and the United Kingdom consider listing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, the issue of Iranian conscripts in the IRGC has emerged as a potential barrier—one that is being incorrectly pushed by opponents of designation.
The case for proscribing the IRGC as a terrorist organization is clear and compelling.
The IRGC is not a conventional state military. Instead, it is a violent Islamist extremist ideological organization. The way it operates—in terms of ideology and activities—is no different from terrorist groups listed by the U.K. and EU, including the Islamic State, al Qaeda, and Hezbollah. Like these groups, the IRGC has a formal indoctrination program designed to radicalize all of its members to embrace its doctrine. Similarly, for more than 43 years, the modus operandi of the IRGC has been—and remains—terrorism, militancy, hostage-takings, and hijackings. It has been involved in terrorist operations against civilians—inside and outside Iran—and has created some of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. The rise in IRGC terrorist activity across Europe, coupled with its increasing propaganda presence—designed to nurture homegrown radicalization in Europe in a way not too dissimilar to the Islamic State—has added urgency to proscribing the Guard.
Source » foreignpolicy