In the future, the European Union will finally designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as what it is, namely a terrorist organisation. The decision taken today sends a strong political message – and one that is overdue.

We as the EU are thus showing that we see what is happening in Iran. We stand side by side with the Iranian people. We stand up for humanity and we oppose repression.

The next step will be the rapid implementation towards a legally binding listing.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and their auxiliary troops are the henchmen of the Iranian regime. It is they who attack their own population with immeasurable brutality, who have quite literally executed their own people for daring to raise their voices on the streets. They are responsible for the destabilising role that Iran plays in the region. They are behind attempted attacks here in Germany and Europe. In short, they have blood on their hands.

For years, we have been calling urgently for the Revolutionary Guard to be listed as a terrorist organisation in the EU. I expressly welcome that other EU member states have now backed our arguments.

For us, one thing remains clear: we will hold those responsible for the brutal suppression of the protests to account. That is why we also imposed individual sanctions today on a long list of people who hold political responsibility and misuse the judicial system for the purposes of permanent repression. Their crimes must not go unanswered either.