European Union foreign ministers on Thursday approved new sanctions against Iran, targeting individuals and organizations involved in the brutal suppression of protesters and the country's support for Russia, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing EU diplomats, UNN writes.
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As the publication writes, EU ministers are also expected to "reach a political agreement to include Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the bloc's list of terrorist organizations, which would place the IRGC in a category similar to 'Islamic State' and 'Al-Qaeda', and would mark a symbolic shift in Europe's approach to Iran's leadership."
Some EU members, led by France, have long been reluctant to add the IRGC to this list, but Paris said on Wednesday that it would support the move, paving the way for approval, even if such a decision requires unanimity among the bloc's 27 members, the publication writes.
The IRGC, created after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shiite clerical system of government, has great influence in the country, controlling part of the economy and armed forces, and has also been responsible for Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programs.