The European Union has formally designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, significantly escalating its response to what it describes as persistent and grave human rights violations by Iranian authorities.
The decision builds on the EU’s long-standing condemnation of repression in Iran, including the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022, executions of EU-Iranian citizens in 2023 and 2024, the detention of human rights defenders such as Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, and casualties during protests in January 2026.
EU officials had said the designation reflects the bloc’s assessment of the IRGC’s central role in the violent crackdown on peaceful protesters, arbitrary detentions, torture and ill-treatment of detainees, restrictions on freedom of expression, internet shutdowns, and the imposition and execution of death sentences against protesters.
“The EU stands firmly with the people of Iran and their legitimate aspirations for a future in which universal human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected,” the bloc had said, reiterating calls for Iranian authorities to uphold international law and ensure accountability for perpetrators of violence and abuse.
The EU has repeatedly urged Iran to eliminate systemic discrimination against women and girls, both in law and in practice, and to take gender-responsive measures to prevent sexual and gender-based violence. It has also stressed that the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, online and offline, must be guaranteed.
The terrorist designation of the IRGC comes against the backdrop of an expanded sanctions regime. The EU first introduced human rights sanctions against Iran in 2011, renewing them annually, until April 13, 2026. Since October 2022, the bloc has sharply increased pressure, adopting 10 sanctions packages in response to the deteriorating human rights situation.
Before this, 247 individuals were sanctioned, including members of the Iranian parliament, ministers, governors, security force personnel, judiciary members, prison officials and those linked to the arrest of Mahsa Amini.
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