EU unlikely to list Iran’s IRGC as terror group, expected to add sanctions on Tehran

By Lazar Berman

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28 January 2026, 5:49 pm

4 Edit

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas waits for a standup space as she arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the European Council building in Brussels, Monday, June 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

The 27 European Union foreign ministers are scheduled to convene tomorrow morning in Brussels, where they will vote on listing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist organization.

Though Italy recently announced it would vote in support, the measure is not expected to gain the unanimous backing it needs under EU rules, a European diplomat tells The Times of Israel. Spain, Portugal, and France still do not back the move, according to the diplomat.

Even if the IRGC is not listed as a terrorist group, the EU still levies significant sanctions on the IRGC and its members. It imposed human rights sanctions on Iran in 2011 and has renewed them continuously since then. The EU also has sanctions on Iran over weapons of mass destruction and over its support for Russia in Ukraine.

It ramped up sanctions on regime officials in 2022, and currently sanctions over 230 individuals and 40 entities, including the IRGC.

The EU is expected to announce new sanctions on Iran in the coming days, including new sanctions connected to Iran’s drone industry.