Western authorities always bow to intimidation. They’re remarkably easy marks.
Note also that terminally woke Reuters fastidiously refrains from calling the group by its actual name, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Reuters wants to distinguish Islam from terrorism as much as possible, even to the point of refusing to call an avowedly Islamic group what it calls itself.
“Iran’s parliament to label European militaries as ‘terror organizations,’” by Sam Halpern, Jerusalem Post, January 22, 2023:
Iran will recognize the armies of the European countries operating in the region as terrorist organizations, Mohammad Baqer Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s Islamic Council, declared during a meeting of the country’s legislature on Sunday, according to the state-affiliated Tasnim media outlet.
“We identify the armies of European countries in the region as terrorist groups and organizations, and we will take the necessary measures to deal with them,” Ghalibaf reportedly said.
“EU agrees new Iran sanctions, won’t label Guards as ‘terrorist’ for now,” by Bart H. Meijer and Ingrid Melander, Reuters, January 23, 2023:
BRUSSELS, Jan 23 (Reuters) – The European Union on Monday introduced new sanctions against Iran for a “brutal” crackdown on protests, but the bloc’s top diplomat said the country’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) cannot be listed as a terrorist group without a court decision.
Relations between the 27-nation EU and Tehran have deteriorated during stalled efforts to revive talks on its nuclear programme, worsening further as Iran has moved to detain several European nationals.
The bloc has also become increasingly critical of the continuing violent treatment of domestic protesters, including executions, and the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia.
Sweden, which currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, said the bloc’s foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday “adopted a new package of sanctions against Iran, targeting those driving the repression.”
“The EU strongly condemns the brutal and disproportionate use of force by the Iranian authorities against peaceful protesters,” said Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, according to a Twitter post by the country’s EU diplomatic mission.
EU diplomats told Reuters last week the bloc was set to add 37 names to a blacklist of Iranian people and entities banned from travelling to Europe and subject to an asset freeze.
The European Parliament has called on the EU to go further and list the IRGC as a terrorist entity, blaming it for the clampdown on protests now into their fourth month and the supply of drones for Russia’s war against Ukraine….
