Iranian authorities reject the EU measures, denouncing the IRGC blacklisting as ‘illogical and irresponsible’.The European Union has designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a “terrorist organisation” over a deadly crackdown on antigovernment protests in the country.EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday that the bloc’s foreign ministers took a “decisive step” in labelling the IRGC as a “terrorist” group.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list“Repression cannot go unanswered,” Kallas wrote on social media. “Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise.”Established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the IRGC is an elite branch of the country’s military that answers directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and oversees the Iranian missile and nuclear programmes.Separately on Thursday, the European Council also announced new sanctions against 15 individuals and six entities it said were “responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran” following the protest crackdown.The targeted individuals include Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni and Prosecutor General Mohammad Movahedi-Azad, the council said in a statement.Iran has faced a wave of international condemnation for using force to quell a mass protest movement, which began late last month amid public anger over soaring inflation and socioeconomic issues.Iranian authorities have confirmed 3,117 deaths, including 2,427 civilians and members of the country’s security forces, and accused Israel and the United States of fuelling the unrest.The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said on Wednesday that at least 6,373 people have been killed since the demonstrations began, including 5,993 protesters. Advertisement Al Jazeera has been unable to independently verify these figures.Reporting from Brussels, Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said the bloc’s decision to blacklist the IRGC and to impose sanctions on Iranian officials aims to send “a strong political message” to Tehran.“It was not an easy decision, particularly the one abou …
