Germany and the European Union are considering adding Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to the list of terrorist organizations, German Foreign Minister Annalina Baerbock said on Sunday.
Last week, Germany announced that it would impose tougher sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran outside of the EU sanctions package.
In an interview Sunday with a German news agency, Baerbock added, "We are also examining how we can list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization."
Baerbock’s comments come a day after Hossein Salami, the head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, warned protesters that Saturday would be their last day of taking to the streets, signaling that security forces might intensify their crackdown on nationwide protests.
The Revolutionary Guards are a part of Iran’s military charged with protecting the country's Islamic political system. It also controls a huge business empire active in almost all sectors of Iran’s economy.
Iran has been gripped by protests since the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in the custody of the morality police last month, posing one of the boldest challenges to the clerical leadership since the 1979 revolution.
Iran has accused countries that have expressed support for the protests of meddling in its internal affairs.
In her interview Sunday, Baerbok also said there are currently no negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Western countries and Iran.
The U.S. State Department designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization in April, 2019.
Some material for this article came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
