Iran summons EU ambassadors to protest Revolutionary Guard being listed as terror group

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran said Monday it had summoned each of the European Union ambassadors successful the Islamic Republic to protestation the bloc’s listing of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard arsenic a panic group.

The EU listed the Guard arsenic a panic radical past week implicit its portion successful the bloody crackdown connected nationwide protests successful January.

Other countries, including the U.S. and Canada, person antecedently designated the Guard arsenic a violent organization. While the determination is mostly symbolic, it does adhd to the economical unit squeezing Iran, peculiarly has the Guard has a large power connected the country's economy.

Iran besides faces the menace of U.S. subject enactment successful effect to the sidesplitting of peaceful demonstrators and implicit imaginable wide executions. The American subject has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and respective guided-missile destroyers into the Mideast. It remains unclear whether President Donald Trump volition determine to usage force.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told journalists that the ambassadors had been summoned connected Sunday.

The Guard emerged from Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution arsenic a unit meant to support the Shiite cleric-overseen authorities and was aboriginal enshrined successful its constitution. Operating successful parallel with the country’s regular equipped forces, it grew successful prominence and powerfulness during a agelong and ruinous warfare with Iraq successful the 1980s. Though it faced imaginable disbandment aft the war, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei granted it powers to grow into backstage enterprise, allowing it to thrive.

The Guard’s Basij unit apt was cardinal successful putting down the demonstrations, starting successful earnest from Jan. 8, erstwhile authorities chopped disconnected the net and planetary telephone calls for the federation of 85 cardinal people. Videos that person travel retired of Iran via Starlink outer dishes and different means amusement men apt belonging to its forces shooting and beating protesters.

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.