Six reasons to recognize Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Terrorist group

There are six grounds to consider the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to be a terrorist organisation.

In this photo provided by the Revolutionary Guard’s Ground Force on October 17, 2022, troops stand while attending a maneuver in northwestern Iran. (Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Ground Force via AP, File)

Many people now wonder why, despite the overwhelming evidence that the IRGC is a terrorist organisation, the US and European governments continue to take compromised measures to keep this cruel organisation off the terrorist list. Many indications suggest that this organisation is involved in terrorist activities not only in Iran but also in the surrounding area and around the world. If an organisation or state utilises terror and unlawfully uses violence against civilians to further its own ideological and political goals, how else can we define it as a terrorist state or organisation?

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard members stand in front of Shahab-3 missile which is displayed during the annual pro-Palestinians Al-Quds, or Jerusalem, Day rally in Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 29, 2022. Iran does not recognize Israel and supports Hamas and Hezbollah, militant groups that oppose it. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Why, then, did Mr. Borrell, a high representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, say that one cannot label something terrorist if she does not agree with it? Or Robert Malley, who has repeatedly stated that the JCPOA negotiations are over, is working hard in secret to open a channel of communication with Iran, and Germany’s Foreign Minister has compromisingly expressed his opposition to including the IRGC on the terrorist list. Here are some reasons and facts to consider this group a terrorist organisation:

• 1 – The IRGC is a violent, oppressive organisation that kills, kidnaps, dismembers, and vanishes civilians. Over the course of 44 years, their actions have had an impact on thousands of people. The fact that this organisation and its subsidiary organisations, such as the Basij, Intelligence Service of the IRGC, are terrorising the Iranian public and peaceful demonstrators is sufficiently and convincingly demonstrated by the killing of Iranians in recent years.
• 2- Attacks on commercial ships in international waters are nothing new. The IRGC has just recently used blackmail to force the release of an oil tanker that it had captured. The same thing occurred just two years ago to a British vessel. Surprisingly, this organisation formally accepted responsibility for seizing ships that belonged to other nations, including South Korea and the United States (a warship without crew).

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  An Iranian Revolutionary Guard speedboat moves in the Persian Gulf while an oil tanker is seen in background, July 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
• 3- The provision of weaponry to terrorist organisations is so obvious that no proof is required. Recently, the British Embassy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported the seizure of a large shipment of weapons that were destined for the Huthis in Yemen. Similar cargoes have been intercepted, and CENTCOM and the Pentagon have repeatedly confirmed that those were the IRGC’s cargoes bound for various terrorist organisations. These are all distinct from the IRGC’s activities in Syria. They use underground tunnels to deliver rackets and mortars to the Palestinian fighters.
  

  Basij paramilitary force members march during the annual pro-Palestinian Al-Quds, or Jerusalem, Day rally as they cover their faces in the style of Palestinian and Lebanese militants in Tehran, Iran, Friday, April 29, 2022. Iran does not recognize Israel and supports Hamas and Hezbollah, militant groups that oppose it. Signs on head bands show support Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

  4- Terrorist attacks carried out by this group over a period of time in Europe are another obvious act of terrorism. The branch 400 of Qods (the international division of the IRGC), which is responsible for leading terror missions outside of Iran by employing several local gangsters and criminals, was revealed by Sky News a few years ago by citing some European agencies. The IRGC leaders are in charge of these missions while posing as diplomats in the Iranian embassy. To carry out the actual work, they employ the neighbourhood thugs. In Europe, the USA, and other parts of the world, this strategy has been used in numerous kidnapping, murdering, and terror-related operations, such as the abduction of German-Iranian activist Jamshid Sharmahd, and Iranian Journalist, Roholah Zam who had been kidnapped and taken to Iraq and then hanged in Tehran.

• 5- Direct threat and simultaneous acceptance of responsibility: The IRGC officials have declared in front of the camera that they intend to assassinate Mike Pompeo, the ex-president of the United States, Donald Trump, and other Americans. Salami, the chief of the IRGC, has acknowledged that the threatening and intimidating of Iran International TV staffers in London—which ultimately forced them to relocate to the US—was carried out by the IRGC. On February 24, 2023, Hajizadeh, the chief of the IRGS’s Aerospace division, declared that if European nations were hostile, they should be aware that our missiles’ ranges may be extended to include Europe. A clear terrorist threat exists here.
• 6- The Iranian drowns, which were created and produced in IRGC factories, are being used against Ukraine. The drown 129 is a weapon created by a group known as “Sazman Jihad Khodkafiyaie” which is a part of the IRGC that is regularly used by Russian forces to kill Ukrainians and destroy their infrastructure. The adviser to the president of Ukraine has stated that certain IRGC instructors are instructing Russian soldiers on how to use these drowns in that country.

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  People gather by a rocket crater in a park of central Kyiv on October 12, 2022, two days after Ukraine’s capital was hit by multiple Russian strikes, the first since late June. – Ukraine President urged member countries from the Group of Seven to help Kyiv buy and deploy air defence systems after Russian missiles badly damaged Ukraine energy facilities. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

There appear to be numerous documents recognising the IRGC as a terrorist organisation. This terrorist organisation is used by the Islamic Republic, a totalitarian government that is not ashamed of carrying out terrorist acts such as kidnapping and interrogating European citizens. As a result, the West and the free world should not make short-term concessions to them at the expense of the nation’s long-term interests. Taking action at this point in history is essential before it is too late for everyone.