Israel has long been demanding that the EU classify the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. After years of stagnation, there is now movement – thanks to a German ruling.
Several EU states, including Germany, want the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to be classified as a terrorist organization based on a ruling by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. The German Press Agency learned this on the sidelines of an EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels.
At the request of the German EU delegation, among others, the legal service of the Council of the EU examined and confirmed that the ruling issued in Düsseldorf in December could be sufficient as a basis for an EU terror list of the Revolutionary Guard, EU diplomats explained. The ruling found that an Iranian state agency had ordered an attempted arson attack on a synagogue.
Israel has been exerting pressure for a long time – risk factor nuclear agreement
Israel has long been calling for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to be classified as a terrorist organization. This was reiterated after the major Iranian attack on Israel in April. In the past, the EU had always stressed that listing the elite forces as terrorists was not currently legally possible because it would require a national court decision or a ban from an administrative authority. Until recently, the EU’s foreign service had doubts as to whether the ruling from Düsseldorf met the necessary requirements.
According to information from EU circles, following the analysis of the legal service, several EU states now support the idea of initiating the procedural steps required for a listing of the Revolutionary Guards in the Council of the EU. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) has repeatedly stressed in the past that she supports a listing. However, it is still uncertain whether there is a majority among the 27 member states required for a terrorist listing. It could only be decided unanimously.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has so far been seen in the EU as an opponent of classifying the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. One reason is the efforts to persuade Iran to stick to an agreement to limit its nuclear program. This is intended to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb.
Verdict for attack plan
The judgment of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court was handed down last December for an attempted attack on a synagogue in Bochum. At that time, a German-Iranian was sentenced to a total prison sentence of two years and nine months for conspiring to commit serious arson and attempted arson (case number III-6 StS 1/23).
As an elite force in Iran, the Revolutionary Guards protect the state ideology and are also supposed to prevent coup attempts. According to Iranian sources, they also carried out the attack on Israel in April, in which hundreds of rockets and drones were used, but hardly any damage was caused, partly because of the well-functioning air defenses of Israel and its partners.
Diplomats stressed that listing the Guards as terrorists would be primarily a symbolic step, as there are already EU sanctions against them.
Source: Stern
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