Kean, Manning, Keating, McCaul lead bipartisan coalition urging the EU to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07), Chair of the Europe Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congresswoman Kathy Manning (NC-06), Vice Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Congressman Bill Keating (MA-09), Ranking Member of the Europe Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee led a bipartisan letter with more than 100 members of Congress, including the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (TX-10), urging the European Union (EU) to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
“Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror. For decades, the IRGC has freely and openly carried out plots targeting citizens in countries across the EU. A recent study by the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point showed that in the last five years Iran has instigated at least 33 plots to surveil, abduct, or assassinate citizens in Europe,” the Members wrote.
The United States designated the IRGC as Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on April 15, 2019, and the European Parliament recently voted for a measure calling on the EU to add the IRGC and its subsidiaries to the EU terrorist list. The Representatives are calling on our European allies to join the U.S. in designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization so we can work together to address the full range of terrorist threats posed by Iran.
“We hope that in the upcoming meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council there will be due consideration on this very important and timely issue. For many years, the IRGC has supported and participated in numerous human rights abuses and terrorist activities, including the brutal crackdown of Iranian protestors following the murder of Mahsa Amini, the attempted assassination of European citizens, and the provision of hundreds of lethal drones to Russia.”
“We strongly urge you, and your foreign affairs ministerial colleagues, to make the decision to fully sanction, penalize and delegitimize the IRGC, to help prevent them from further threatening democracy and freedom in the United States, Europe, and around the world,” the Members continued.
