Two American Officials: Washington Supports Designating the IRGC as a 'Global Terrorist Organization'

Two senior U.S. officials on Thursday, June 10, made separate statements introducing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a 'threat to the world' and supporting the classification of this entity under the supervision of Ali Khamenei as a 'global terrorist organization.' Abram Paley, the Deputy Special Representative for Iran, wrote on 'X': 'We definitely support efforts to classify the IRGC as a global terrorist organization. The U.S. recognizes the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and this group is considered a threat to the world.' Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, also stated during a press conference on Thursday, coinciding with further revelations about the IRGC's role in 'malicious activities abroad and the assassination of dissidents at home,' saying: 'Let me be very clear, the IRGC is a danger to the world.' This was Patel's response to the question of whether the U.S. agrees with Germany and other countries classifying the IRGC as a terrorist group. Earlier reports indicated that several EU member states intend to classify the IRGC as a terrorist organization based on a ruling from a Düsseldorf court regarding a fire incident at a Jewish place of worship in Bochum. The German state news agency DPA reported on Monday, June 7, that according to information obtained from a recent meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, the legal service of the European Council confirmed that last December's ruling from the Düsseldorf court could be sufficient to add the IRGC to the terrorism list of this European bloc. Meanwhile, the closure of embassies and the Islamic Republic's center and the inclusion of the IRGC in the list of terrorist groups have been among the main demands of Iranian protesters residing in Germany since the beginning of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' protests in that country. Vedant Patel stated on Thursday that the IRGC is a terrorist actor and 'we fully support the classification of the IRGC as a terrorist organization worldwide.' The U.S. support for including the IRGC in the terrorism list comes as the British Committee for the Freedom of Iran also reported on Thursday, June 10, that 'over 550 members of both Houses of Parliament' in the UK expressed their deep concern over the 'ruthless repression of the Iranian people, including ethnic and religious minorities by the Iranian regime' in a joint statement and called for the IRGC to be recognized as a terrorist organization. They condemned the reported deliberate shootings by the Iranian government's forces against protesters during the 2022 demonstrations as 'a blatant violation of human rights, especially the repression of women' and called for accountability for those responsible for the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 for committing crimes against humanity. The signatories of the statement emphasized the 'destructive role of the Iranian regime in the Middle East and its warmongering policies,' calling for the IRGC to be declared a terrorist organization and for oil sanctions against the Islamic Republic to be imposed. The statement noted that the IRGC 'spreads terrorism through proxy groups' and obstructs peace and security in the region and the world. These representatives emphasized that 'the Iranian regime is the driving force of war in the Middle East and attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea' and added: 'The head of the snake is in Iran.' The IRGC was designated as a terrorist organization by former U.S. President Donald Trump in 2019. This was the first time the United States had designated a military unit of a government as a terrorist group. Alim Saleh: The European Union has a common definition regarding adding the IRGC to the terrorist list, but all members must approve it. The British Committee for the Freedom of Iran: Hundreds of lawmakers called for the IRGC to be recognized as a terrorist organization. The decision of several European countries to place the IRGC on the terrorism list is based on a court ruling in Germany.