TEHRAN - Iran considers the armed forces of European Union countries to be terrorist groups, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said today. He said it was a retaliatory move for the EU's inclusion of Iran's Revolutionary Guards on its list of terrorist organisations, news agencies reported.
EU foreign ministers decided to include the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on the list on Thursday. They justified this on the grounds of the Iranian regime's crackdown on recent large-scale demonstrations, which, according to various sources, has caused thousands of casualties. Ghalibaf cited the 2019 law in parliament today. He said Tehran reciprocally considers other countries' militaries as terrorist groups, given that the United States declared the Iranian Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization in the same year. But today's announcement is more symbolic, according to the AP.
On Thursday, Iran described the inclusion of the Revolutionary Guards on the EU's list of terrorist organisations as a dangerous step. According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the Revolutionary Guards are an official military institution and Iran reserves the right to take reciprocal measures against the EU's decision.
Recent protests in Iran have resulted in 6159 deaths, according to the human rights NGO HRANA, but the organisation is investigating more than 17,000 other cases. The Iranian authorities themselves have admitted 3 000 deaths, most of whom they say are members of the security forces. According to Iranian President Massoud Pesekhian, the protests were instigated by politicians from the European Union, as well as US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the Iranian President, the demonstrations were not only caused by social problems.
ČTK/ceskenoviny.cz/gnews.cz-jav
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