Jennifer Rankin & Kiran Stacey
The Guardian / January 29, 2026
‘Any organisation that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise,’ says Kaja Kallas.
Brussels – The EU has listed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, ending years of division over the issue in response to the regime’s brutal repression of protesters.
“Repression cannot go unanswered,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, on Thursday. The paramilitary organisation has played a significant role in suppressing demonstrations in Iran. “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise,” she wrote on X.
Hannah Neumann, chair of the European parliament’s delegation for relations with Iran, said the IRGC listing was a “long-overdue political signal that massive violence and transnational repression will no longer go unanswered”.
She said in a statement: “This listing is not merely symbolic. It carries very concrete legal consequences: assets are frozen, and any financial or material support becomes a criminal offence.”
The EU also added 15 Iranian government officials and six organisations to its sanctions list for their role in “serious human rights violations” in the repression of protesters. The listings included Iran’s minister of the interior, Eskandar Momeni, and several IRGC commanders, senior police and law enforcement officers, an EU statement said.
Entities facing sanctions include the Iranian Audio-Visual Media Regulatory Authority and several software companies involved in censoring activities, such as trolling campaigns on social media, spreading misinformation and disinformation and disrupting internet access.
The latest additions mean the EU has sanctioned 247 individuals and 50 entities over human rights violations. Separate restrictions (asset freezes and travel bans) have been imposed on Iranian people and organisations aiding Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The long-discussed EU listing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps came after Donald Trump told Tehran to negotiate a deal on the future of its nuclear programme or face a possible military strike. He announced on social media that a “massive armada” was on the way ready to fulfil its mission “with speed and violence if necessary”.
The Axios website reported that the Trump administration would host senior defence and intelligence officials from Israel and Saudi Arabia this week for talks on Iran.
Trump held back from threatened military strikes on Iran earlier this month, after calls from the Gulf states for restraint and warnings from Israel that it needed more time to prepare for likely reprisals.
Russia, which has deepened ties with Iran since the start of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, warned on Thursday against any “destabilising” military action in the region. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson, said: “Any forceful actions can only create chaos in the region and lead to very dangerous consequences in terms of destabilising the security system throughout the region.”
More than 30,000 people may have been killed in the latest wave of repression in Iran, according to some estimates. Human rights groups say a “revenge” campaign has been unleashed by the regime, with doctors and healthcare workers facing death sentences for treating badly injured protesters.
The EU terror designation of the IRGC became possible after France dropped its long-held opposition. Jean-Nöel Barrot, the French foreign minister, wrote on X: “The unbearable repression of the peaceful uprising of the Iranian people cannot go unanswered.”
France, along with other member states, had resisted the designation of the Iranian regime’s state body, fearing it would damage diplomatic channels and the interests of French citizens in the country.
Belgium had similar qualms, but its government last year included support for the EU listing in the coalition agreement. Belgium’s foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, said on Thursday his country continued to advocate for the terror designation “particularly in light of the atrocities and repression that have been observed in recent weeks”.
On Thursday, Tehran’s top diplomat criticised the EU’s decision to designate the IRGC a terrorist organisation as a “major strategic mistake”. In a post on X, Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, wrote: “Several countries are presently attempting to avert the eruption of all-out war in our region. Europe is instead busy fanning the flames.” Iran is facing off with the US, which has moved a strike force to the Middle East.
Established after the 1979 Islamic revolution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is an elite paramilitary force loyal to the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It is separate to the regular army, with 150,000 ground troops and its own navy and air force.
It was listed a terrorist organisation by the US in 2019 during the first Trump administration, by Canada in 2024, and by Australia in 2025.
The EU’s decision renews pressure on the British government, which has not proscribed the IRGC but has kept open the option to do so in the future.
Yvette Cooper, the British foreign secretary, has promised to draw up new legislation to be able to proscribe state organisations such as the IRGC without having to designate them as a terrorist organisation under existing laws.
Cooper told MPs earlier this month: “The scale of the truly brutal, horrendous actions in Iran means that we should stand together in condemnation of that action, and in the action that we need to take in concert with our allies, including on further sanctions and further immediate pressure on the regime.”
A spokesperson for the prime minister’s office said on Thursday: “We welcome those announcements by the EU, which will further hold the Iranian authorities to account for the violence and brutality shown against peaceful protesters.”
The UK Foreign Office views a decision on proscription as largely symbolic given the extensive sanctions already in place and is concerned such a move might trigger the expulsion of British diplomats in Tehran. The IRGC is already subject to asset freezes and other sanctions in the UK.
Jennifer Rankin – Brussels correspondent for The Guardian
Kiran Stacey is policy editor for The Guardian
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Iran: Council adopts new sanctions over serious human rights violations and Iran’s continued support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine
Council of the EU / January 29, 2026
Press release
The Council decided today to impose restrictive measures related to serious human rights violations in Iran and Iran’s continued military support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Human rights violations in Iran
The Council decided today to impose restrictive measures on an additional 15 persons and six entities responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran, following the violent repression of peaceful protests, including the use of violence, arbitrary detention, and intimidation tactics by security forces against demonstrators.
The EU is in particular imposing restrictive measures on Eskandar Momeni, Iran’s Minister of the Interior and Head of the National Security Council, and members of Iran’s judicial system including Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, the Prosecutor General, and Iman Afshari, a presiding judge. In addition, today’s listings cover a number of IRGC commanders and high ranking officers of the police and the Law Enforcement Force (LEF). They were all involved in the violent repression of peaceful protests and the arbitrary arrest of political activists and human rights defenders.
The entities listed today include among others the Iranian Audio-Visual Media Regulatory Authority (SATRA), Seraj Cyberspace Organization, the Working Group for Determining Instances of Criminal Content (WGDICC) and several software companies. These entities were involved in censoring activities, trolling campaigns on social media, spreading disinformation and misinformation online, or contributed to the widespread disruption of access to the internet by developing surveillance and repression tools.
Restrictive measures related to human rights violations in Iran now apply to a total of 247 individuals and 50 entities. They consist of an asset freeze, travel bans to the EU, and a prohibition to make funds or economic resources available to those listed. A ban on exports to Iran of equipment that might be used for internal repression, including equipment for monitoring telecommunications, is also in place.
The EU expresses its solidarity with the Iranian people as they voice their legitimate aspiration for freedom and dignity, and for a future where their universal human rights and fundamental freedoms are respected, protected and fulfilled.
Iran’s support to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine
Iran’s military supports to Russia’s war of aggression continues to pose a direct threat to EU security. Today, the Council also imposed restrictive measures on four persons and six entities under the EU dedicated sanctions regime, with a specific focus on the Iranian state-sponsored programme for the development and production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Today’s listings include Khojir Missile Development and Production, a leading entity in Iran’s ballistic missile programme, and Sahara Thunder, an Iranian import-export trading company which acts as a front company for the Iranian Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics. The Council is also sanctioning other private companies supplying critical components to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or having links to entities involved in Iran’s missile programme.
The individuals listed today include businessmen, CEOs and shareholders of private companies who are involved in the development and production of Iran’s ballistic missiles and are therefore engaged in Iran’s missile or UAV programme.
Today’s decision brings the total number of those sanctioned under this regime to 24 individuals and 26 entities. The sanctions regime was last extended until 27 July 2026.
Finally, the Council decided to extend the prohibition on the export, sale, transfer or supply from the EU to Iran to include further components and technologies used in the development and production of UAVs and missiles. This applies to special materials and related equipment, including energetic materials and mixtures thereof, materials processing, electronics, computers, telecommunications and information security, sensors and lasers, navigation and avionics, aerospace and propulsion as well as technology, designed or specifically adapted for the test, development or production of drones and missiles.
The relevant legal acts have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Background
The EU introduced in 2011 a regime consisting of restrictive measures specifically targeting human rights violations and abuses in Iran, that have been renewed annually since and last extended until 13 of April 2026. Since 2022, the EU has drastically increased restrictive measures, adopting multiple packages of sanctions in the context of growing concerns about the human rights situation in Iran.
On 9 January 2026, the HR issued a statement on behalf of the EU condemning the use of violence, arbitrary detention and intimidation tactics by security forces against demonstrators in Iran. The statement also called for all individuals unjustly detained for exercising their fundamental rights to be released immediately and urged Iranian authorities to adhere to Iran’s international obligations and fully uphold the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, as well as for ensuring the right of access to information, including by restoring access to the internet for all.
Furthermore, on 20 July 2023, the Council established a dedicated framework for sanctions in view of Iran’s military support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. The scope of the framework was broadened on 14 May 2024, in view of Iran’s military support to armed groups in the Middle East and Red Sea region and of the drone and missile attacks Iran carried out against Israel in April 2024.
