Iran, on Thursday, condemned a proposal by the European parliament to list Iran Revolutionary Guards as terrorists calling it “ill-considered and wrong.’’

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Hussein Amirabdollahian, said in a statement that the plan was “a shot in the foot.’’

The Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) is Iran’s elite armed forces, established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Its mandate is to prevent possible coups and protect the state’s ideology. The IRGC has also risen to become an economic power in recent decades.

The unit has, however, come under increased criticism for its involvement in suppressing the recent wave of protests.

Many Iranians and politicians in Europe are now calling for the Revolutionary Guards to be classified as a terrorist organisation, which the U.S. did under former President Donald Trump in 2019.

Following the numerous human rights violations since demonstrations broke out in mid-September, the EU has already imposed sanctions on many high-ranking officers of the Revolutionary Guards.

On Thursday, at a question and answer period following a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dodged a question by an Iranian woman who asked why Germany had not listed the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.

Mr Scholz responded that his administration had condemned Iran’s attacks on its own people, including several executions of citizens involved in the protest.

He did not give reasons why Germany has not listed the guard as a terrorist group. 

(dpa/NAN)