The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amirabdollahian, warns on Twitter with a “countermeasure” for which a project is already being prepared.
Iran is threatening the European Union with consequences if the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) terrorist list proposed by the EU Parliament is implemented. “The European Parliament has shot itself in the foot and the response will be countermeasures,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian tweeted on Sunday. According to the Iranian chief diplomat, the parliament is already working on a draft of this.
Amirabdollahian and IRGC commander Hussein Salami attended a meeting in Iran’s parliament on Sunday to discuss details. The exact countermeasures are unclear. But there was talk of detaining foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, or even in the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. It is one of the most important maritime routes in the world, through which many oil transports pass.
The IRGC are Iran’s elite armed forces tasked with protecting the state’s ideology and, more importantly, preventing a coup. In recent decades, the IRGC has also become an economic powerhouse. The unit has come under increasing criticism for its role in suppressing the recent wave of protests. Many Iranians and politicians in Europe are now calling for the IRGC to be classified as a terrorist organization. Given the numerous human rights violations since protest demonstrations erupted in mid-September, the EU has already imposed sanctions on many high-ranking Revolutionary Guard officers.
The “Please Repent Me” Decision
Iran’s foreign ministry had already strongly condemned the decision on Thursday. Vice-president and former head of the IRGC, Mohsen Resaei, described the members of the European Parliament as “political dwarfs” who would bitterly regret their decision. On Sunday, the state-run daily newspaper even called for the severing of diplomatic and economic relations with all European states that supported the IRGC terrorist list.
EU foreign ministers want to formally decide on new sanctions against Iran at a meeting on Monday, diplomats confirmed.
(APA/dpa)