Shafaq News– Tehran

Iran warned on Sunday that it could classify the armed forces of European Union countries as terrorist groups after the bloc designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

Addressing parliament, Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf clarified that the move was legally required. “Under Article Seven of the law on countering the designation of the IRGC, the armed forces of European countries are considered terrorist groups."

Iran’s parliamentary National Security Committee would examine additional countermeasures, including the possible expulsion of EU military attachés, he added.

EU foreign ministers agreed on Thursday to add the IRGC to the bloc’s terrorism list, citing Iran’s "violent" crackdown on protests –which the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) claimed left over 6,700 dead– and alleged human rights abuses.

The United States, currently amassing a "massive armada" in the Middle East and warning of military action against Iran, designated the force as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019.

Iran cautioned that the EU move would carry consequences for European states. The country’s Foreign Ministry condemned the EU decision as illegal and unjustified, arguing that it targets Iran’s official armed forces and the "Iranian people as a whole."

Founded after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the IRGC is a powerful branch of the country’s military with extensive influence over domestic security, the economy, and regional operations.

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