Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday designated the air and naval forces of all member states of the European Union as “terrorist organizations” in what it described as a reciprocal move following the bloc’s decision to blacklist the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.
In a statement, Tehran said the measure was a counteraction to the EU’s February 19, 2026 decision to place the IRGC on its list of terrorist entities, citing what it called the killing of thousands of protesters. The designation came after hundreds of people were killed during unrest in Iran in January, while the Iranian government said the violence had been carried out by “terrorist elements.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry described the EU move as “illegal and unjustified,” saying it violated the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter and international law by targeting one of the official branches of a sovereign state’s armed forces.
According to the statement, Iran’s retaliatory decision was based on the principle of reciprocity and grounded in Article 7 of a 2019 law adopted by the Iranian parliament. The legislation, titled “Countermeasures Against the Designation of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps as a Terrorist Organization by the United States,” stipulates that any country that, in any way, follows or supports Washington’s decision to label the IRGC as a terrorist group would be subject to reciprocal measures by Iran.
The United States designated the IRGC as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” in 2019, marking the first time in history that Washington placed a formal military entity of another state on its terrorism list.
Canada followed suit and added the force to its own list of terrorist groups after a parliamentary vote the same year.
