TEHRAN – The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a declaration on Sunday designating the naval and air forces of all European Union (EU) member states as terrorist organizations in response to the EU’s illegal move to put the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

On January 29, EU foreign ministers agreed to include the IRGC on the bloc's list of terrorist organizations.

“Given that the member states of the European Union, in violation of the fundamental principles and rules of the Charter of the United Nations and international law, have designated the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps” as a terrorist organization, in a “reciprocal action,” Iran also “considers the naval and air forces of all European Union member states” as “terrorist organizations”.

In its declaration, the Foreign Ministry said the IRGC “is recognized as one of the official pillars of the country’s armed forces”.

Contrary to the claims by the EU, the IRGC emerged as the strongest military force against terrorist groups, especially ISIS (called Daesh in its Arabic acronym), in Syria and Iraq in the 2010s. If it had not been for the leadership of the IRGC, the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, would have fallen to ISIS. 

The Foreign Ministry said the move by Iran is “based on the principle of reciprocity and pursuant to Article 7 of the 2019 law entitled “Countermeasures in Response to the United States’ Designation of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps as a Terrorist Organization.” 

The law stipulates that “all countries that in any manner comply with or support the decision of the United States of America to designate the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps as a terrorist organization shall be subject to reciprocal measures.”