Germany seeks EU counterterrorism sanctions on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard: Report

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - Germany has initiated an official procedure to impose EU counterterrorism sanctions on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, local media reported on Friday.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock raised this issue during a recent meeting with her EU counterparts, and Berlin made a new legal attempt to blacklist the force, Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported.

According to the respected newspaper, the latest legal initiative aims to add the elite unit under the EU’s powerful counterterrorism sanctions regime, which was first introduced after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the US.

The EU so far introduced counterterrorism sanctions against various groups and entities involved in terrorist acts, including ISIL/Daesh and Al-Qaida, imposed several measures such as travel bans and asset freezes.

Several EU member states made various attempts in the past to include the Revolutionary Guards on the so-called “EU terrorist list” but their attempts were not successful due to legal complexities.

The outgoing EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell had repeatedly said that such a move could not be possible without a court decision on the group's activities.

“You cannot say: 'I consider you a terrorist because I do not like you'. It has to be done when a court of one member states issues a legal statement, a concrete condemnation. And then we work at the European level, but it has to be first a court decision,” he said earlier.