The EU will extend its sanctions against Iran for the repression of the protests: more than 14,000 people have already been arrested

The European Union (EU) will impose new sanctions on 37 Iranian officials and organizations for the repression of protesters, but still debates the name of the Revolutionary Guard from iran as “terrorist group”diplomats said this Friday.

The bloc’s foreign ministers will hold a meeting in Brussels on Monday and intend to adopt the fourth package of sanctions against Iran for the repression of protests.

Since September 2022, Iran has been the scene of a wave of protests following the death of a 22-year-old woman while in police custody for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s dress rules that require the use of the headscarf. .

Iran has arrested at least 14,000 people following the protests, according to the UN. In addition, four people were executed for participating in riots, and another 18 were sentenced to death.

The EU has already ordered an asset freeze and visa ban for more than 60 Iranian officials and entities over the crackdown, including morale police, Revolutionary Guard corps commanders and state media.

However, EU countries have not classified the Revolutionary Guard as a “terrorist” group, despite calls from Germany and other EU states to take such a step.

Iran has already warned the EU about the consequences such a classification would have, and some European officials fear that such a decision could end the attempts to revive the 2015 deal on the Iranian nuclear program, an initiative mediated by Brussels.

“I think it’s not a good idea, because it prevents progress on other issues,” said a senior EU official.

The strength of the Iranian regime was born in 1979 after the Islamic Revolution who deposed the Shah of Persia and established the current theocratic regime led by the ayatollahs.

Also Known As pasdaran (“guardians” in Farsi)this paramilitary force was intended as a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces tasked with protecting precisely the theocratic regime and the Islamic republic, as opposed to the more traditional border protection role of the army, navy and air force.

Its existence is protected by article 150 of the Constitution of Iran, and it is one of the most powerful formations of the Persian state and one of its most politically motivated.

It is believed to currently have more than 120,000 members stationed in land, naval and air units, and the Quds Force, which is its overseas operations division. In addition, it controls the Basij militias, which number another 90,000 members.

His involvement as a sponsor of terrorism and his destabilizing role accused by The United States, which in 2019 designated it as a terrorist organization, They are related to the actions of the Quds Force, which precisely directs Iranian operations in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, among other countries. In this role, the Quds Force supports and trains the terrorist groups Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, as well as Houthi militias in Yemen and various Shiite groups in Syria and Afghanistan.

The group is also linked to the development of the Iranian atomic program and its military side.

But beyond these activities, the force is a complex organization that maintains social, economic, political and military roles, controlling Iranian society through brutal repression and numerous human rights violations, and exporting the principles of the Islamic Revolution to the Foreign.

(With information from AFP)

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