European Union Labels Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a Terrorist Group

The move, which comes after the killing of protesters, brings the European Union in line with the United States and Canada. A photo verified by The New York Times shows a screen grab from social media of bodies in body bags outside a morgue in Tehran after days of protests, earlier this month.Credit...UGC, via ReutersJan. 29, 2026, 10:22 a.m. ETThe European Union will list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, officials announced Thursday afternoon, after a brutal and bloody crackdown against protesters in recent weeks.The move brings the European Union in line with the United States and Canada, which have already labeled the organization a terrorist group. While France, Italy and Spain had previously worried that blacklisting it could close off diplomatic channels to Tehran, that calculus has shifted after the violence of recent weeks.While it is not clear how many people have been killed in Iran’s crackdown on the protests, most independent monitoring groups agree that the number of deaths is in the thousands.The European Union will also hit 21 Iranian individuals and entities with sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, a move meant to signal the bloc’s opposition to what is happening in the country.“This decision is also a call — a call to the Iranian authorities to liberate the prisoners who, by tens of thousands, have been thrown in the regime's prisons,” Jean-Noël Barrot, the French foreign minister, said on the sidelines of a meeting of ministers in Brussels. He added that it was also a call for the authorities to end executions and to allow the Iranian people to decide their futures for themselves.Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, announced the move in a post on social media during the gathering. It will be formalized in coming days.“Repression cannot go unanswered,” Ms. Kallas said. “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise.”Jeanna Smialek is the Brussels bureau chief for The Times.SKIP Site IndexNewsHome PageU.S.WorldPoliticsNew YorkEducationSportsBusinessTechScienceWeatherThe Great ReadObituariesHeadwayVisual InvestigationsThe MagazineArtsBook ReviewBest Sellers Book ListDanceMoviesMusicPop CultureTelevisionTheaterVisual ArtsLifestyleHealthWellFoodRestaurant ReviewsLoveTravelStyleFashionReal EstateT MagazineOpinionToday's OpinionColumnistsEditorialsGuest EssaysOp-DocsLettersSunday OpinionOpinion VideoOpinion AudioMoreAudioGamesCookingWirecutterThe AthleticJobsVideoGraphicsTrendingLive EventsCorrectionsReader CenterTimesMachineThe Learning NetworkSchool of The NYTinEducationAccountSubscribeManage My AccountHome DeliveryGift SubscriptionsGroup SubscriptionsGift ArticlesEmail NewslettersNYT LicensingReplica EditionTimes Store