The Czech ambassador to Israel, Veronika Kuchyňová Šmigolová, said on Tuesday that the European Union (EU) plans to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, JNS reported.
“We are getting there,” the ambassador told JNS at a briefing at the Czech Embassy in Tel Aviv.
She noted that the initiative was gaining steam primarily due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which she said is currently the most dominant focus of European foreign policy.
“It is less connected with what Iran is doing to Israel and more connected to the Iranian support of Russia in the war in Ukraine,” she added.
The European Parliament last year called for the EU to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization, blaming the force for the repression of protesters and the supply of drones to Russia.
A total of 598 members of the parliament voted in favor, while nine voted against and 31 abstained. The vote is non-binding.
In January of last year, it was reported that the EU is exploring legal options to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization and that the move has the support of France and Germany.
Washington designated the IRGC as a foreign terror organization in 2019. Canada did so last month.
Iran has spoken out against a potential EU blacklist of the IRGC. Last year, then-Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned the EU his country would take “reciprocal” measures in response to such a move.
Before that, IRGC chief Major General Hossein Salami warned the European Union against making a “mistake” by listing the IRGC as a terror group.
Source » jpost