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Iranian professors say EP’s call for blacklisting IRGC ‘miscalculation’

Friday, 20 January 2023 3:22 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 20 January 2023 4:21 PM ]

A soldier looks on as the IRGC Ground Forces prepare for military drills near Aras River, northwest Iran, October 17, 2022. (File photo by Tasnim news agency)

A host of Iranian professors have censured the European Parliament’s recent call for designating the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, saying the request arises from European countries’ “miscalculations.”

In a statement on Friday, the university professors from across the country condemned the “heinous move” while also voicing their support for the “Revolutionary and popular” IRGC.

The statement comes two days after the European Parliament adopted an amendment, which was added to an annual foreign policy report, calling on the EU and its member states to include the IRGC on their terror list.

“European politicians have correctly acknowledged their defeat against the Iranian nation and understood the authority of the IRGC,” reads the statement.

“The IRGC is a legal and official armed force of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” they said. “Designating the army of a country is in contravention of all international rules and norms and is void of any legal and executive value.”

The designation will allow Iran to perform a reciprocal action and consider the troops of all hostile countries as terrorists, the academics stated.

Iran: ‘Global club of terrorists’ angry since IRGC is largest counter-terrorism institution

Iran has slammed the European Parliament’s call on the EU to designate IRGC as a terrorist entity.

“The IRGC is the only popular armed force in the world that draws a significant portion of its power from popular Basij forces,” they said, noting that such measures do not undermine the position of the force among the public, but rather ramp up the popularity of the force.

“The IRGC has played the most significant role in countering internal, regional, and global terrorists and European governments are indebted to the braveries of the force in the fight against Daesh terrorists,” the statement read.

The academics called on the European politicians to end enmity towards the Iranian nation and “do not beat the drum of war.”

The parliament also passed another resolution on Thursday, calling for more sanctions against Iranian individuals and entities and putting the IRGC on the EU terrorist list over alleged human rights violations during recent riots.

The move has been condemned by Iranian officials, commanders, and the armed forces.

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