Iran: The EU’s designation of the IRGC is just the first step. Justice must follow
The European Union’s recent decision to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization is historic, long overdue, and morally necessary.
For decades, Iranians and others have warned the world: this is not a conventional military force. It is the mother of all the Islamic Republic’s forces and proxies, controlling and directing operations inside Iran and abroad through the Quds Force, Hezbollah, Hamas, Zeinabiyoun, Fatemiyoun, Hashd al-Shaabi, Houthis, and many others. These groups operate as instruments of terror, repression, and regional aggression, targeting civilians, suppressing dissent, and undermining international stability.
But a label is not enough. The Islamic Republic did not arise in a vacuum. Its rise and survival were enabled, financed, and legitimized by governments and institutions that chose short-term political convenience over justice. These states provided political cover, economic support, diplomatic recognition, or turned a blind eye to atrocities. They cannot claim ignorance, neutrality, or innocence. Their complicity is real, measurable, and punishable.
All assets and funds linked to the regime—including wealth stolen from the Iranian people and hidden abroad, or held in the names of regime officials, their families, or shell companies—must be frozen immediately. After the fall of the regime, these resources must be seized and returned to the Iranian nation to rebuild the country, restore what was stolen, repair the damage, and secure a future for the Iranian people. There is no room for negotiation, delay, or diplomatic shielding of the guilty.
The legal responsibility of states and institutions that enabled the Islamic Republic cannot be ignored. Those that facilitated its rise, shielded it from accountability, or benefited from its crimes must be legally sued, prosecuted, and compelled to provide reparations. International law, financial law, and human rights law provide the mechanisms to ensure that no state, institution, or individual escapes justice. Truth commissions, financial audits, and international tribunals can and must hold them accountable.
The IRGC’s global network is not incidental. Its proxies have committed crimes across the Middle East and beyond—killing civilians in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Israel, and Gaza, and sending mercenaries to fight wars that serve Tehran’s interests, not the interests of the people in these countries. By coordinating and controlling these groups, the IRGC has made itself the central pillar of the Islamic Republic’s domestic oppression and foreign aggression. This is why its designation as a terrorist organization is not symbolic—it is a recognition of reality.
The world must understand: this is not revenge. This is law, responsibility, and restitution. Justice must be proactive and enforceable. History will record which powers enabled tyranny, which financial institutions laundered stolen wealth, and which governments looked away as millions suffered under the clerical regime. Those entities will be called to answer, in courtrooms and international tribunals, for the consequences of their choices.
The Iranian people have paid the price for decades of terror, repression, and theft. They have endured imprisonment, torture, exile, and the death of their loved ones while the regime’s operatives grew rich and powerful. After the fall of the Islamic Republic, it is not just a moral obligation—it is a legal and historical imperative—to return stolen wealth, hold enablers accountable, and rebuild the nation.
No government, no institution, and no individual should believe they can escape this reckoning. The EU’s designation is only the first step. Legal action, asset seizure, and international accountability must follow. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the mother of terror, and those who enabled it must pay what they owe to the Iranian people.
Just a reminder: There is a clear and fundamental difference between the Iranian people who are fighting for freedom and the Shiite Islamist terrorist group known as MEK/MKO/NCRI. The Iranian people have resisted dictatorship for more than four decades, at immense personal cost. They do not need armed cults or foreign-backed groups with a record of violence, assassinations, authoritarian behavior, and collaboration with past dictators to speak on their behalf. MEK is not a democratic alternative and does not represent Iran or Iranians. Its history, structure, and ideology place it far closer to extremist movements than to any genuine freedom struggle. Confusing this group with the Iranian people distorts reality and insults those who have fought tyranny without terror. Supporting Iran’s future means standing with ordinary Iranians—not legitimizing a group that has repeatedly acted against the nation’s interests.Words matter. Accuracy matters. This distinction is essential.
History will not forget. The Iranian people will not forgive. And justice—true, enforceable justice—will not be denied.
