Masih Alinejad to German President: Designate IRGC as a Terrorist Organization

Masih Alinejad, a human rights activist, journalist opposing the Islamic Republic, and host of the "Tablet" program on Voice of America, announced her request to add the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to the terrorist list during her meeting with Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the President of Germany. On Saturday, November 10, she wrote on her social media account that during her meeting with Steinmeier, she asked him to recognize the IRGC as a terrorist organization. This human rights activist also stated that during this meeting, which marked the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, she said: "Sooner or later, we will tear down the wall of tyranny of the Islamic Republic." Alinejad emphasized the unity of the people of Iran and Germany, telling Steinmeier that Mohammad Javad Zarif, the strategic deputy of the 14th government of the Islamic Republic, "is not your friend." She also called for Western countries, including Germany, to sever ties with the Islamic Republic. A number of Iranian and German activists, as well as a member of the German state parliament, issued a call on Friday, November 9, demanding the inclusion of the IRGC in the list of terrorist groups. The signatories of this statement urged the European Union, the Council of Europe, and the German government to take necessary actions to list the IRGC. Additionally, Mina Ahadi, a political activist and one of the signatories, described the killing of Jamshid Sharmhad as "state murder" of a German citizen and stated: "This act of the government should not be considered personal, as it is another example of the escalating blatant violence of the Islamic Republic that cannot be deemed resolved with a symbolic reaction." The signatories of this call considered the closure of three Iranian consulates in Germany, following the execution of Jamshid Sharmhad, a dual Iranian-German political prisoner, a positive but insufficient step. They demanded a clear and cohesive response to the threats posed by the IRGC in the European Union. Previously, Hannah Neumann, head of the Iran section in the European Parliament, reacted on November 1 to the closure of three Iranian consulates in Germany by Olaf Scholz's government, stating that the regime's brutality must have consequences, and it does. Neumann, who is also a member of the German Green Party, emphasized that the next step is to declare the IRGC as a terrorist organization. She noted that for this matter, "we need unity from all EU member states."