Borrell says EU cannot designate Iran's IRGC as ‘terrorist’ without court ruling
In what seems to be a partial retreat from hardline anti-Iran policies, European Union Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell has announced that the bloc cannot list the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist” entity without an EU court decision.
According to Press TV, speaking before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Borrell said a court ruling with a “concrete legal condemnation” had to first be handed down before the bloc itself could apply any such designation.
"It is something that cannot be decided without a court, a court decision first. You cannot say I consider you a terrorist because I don't like you," Borrell told reporters, stressing that the court of an EU member state had to issue a concrete legal condemnation before the bloc could act.
The announcement was made after the European Parliament on Wednesday adopted an amendment calling on the EU and its member states to include the IRGC on their terror list. It also passed another resolution on Thursday, calling for more sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities and putting the IRGC on the EU terrorist list over alleged human rights violations during the recent riots.
Major General Hossein Salami, the Chief Commander of the IRGC, blasted the European Parliament’s resolution, warning that the Europeans would suffer the consequences of their move.
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