Statement of the Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran In Support of the European Union’s Decision to Designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Terrorist Organization

The Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran (CNFI) welcomes the decision of the European Union to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization and considers this measure a significant and necessary step toward strengthening international accountability, advancing the protection of human rights, and confronting state-sponsored terrorism. This decision, which reflects the shared political will of the EU Member States, constitutes a proportionate response to the well-documented record of the IRGC in perpetrating widespread and systematic human rights violations and engaging in terrorist activities both within and beyond the borders of Iran.

The IRGC, an institution established after 1979 with the declared aim of safeguarding the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, has over the past decades evolved into one of the principal pillars of structural violence, the repression of peaceful protests, and the systematic restriction of citizens’ fundamental rights and freedoms. Its pervasive influence over Iran’s political, security, and economic structures has facilitated the persistent erosion of the rule of law and the continued violation of core human rights principles.

The direct involvement of the IRGC in the suppression of popular uprisings and mass protests, including the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement and other nationwide demonstrations, has been extensively documented and widely acknowledged by international bodies and global public opinion. These actions have included the disproportionate use of force, the firing of live ammunition at protesters, mass arrests, torture, and the killing of civilian citizens. In this context, the marginalised nationalities subjected to systematic discrimination within Iran have borne a disproportionate share of the harm and suffering.

In regions such as Kurdistan, Baluchistan, Ahvaz, Azerbaijan and Turkmen Sahra, the actions of the IRGC, including large-scale military operations, violent suppression of protests, extrajudicial executions, destruction of villages, forced displacement, and the imposition of structural discrimination, constitute clear and grave examples of systematic and flagrant violations of human rights and of the principles of civilian protection. Taken together, these practices demonstrate the existence of a consistent pattern of security–military policies directed against marginalized nationalities and peripheral regions of the country.

The activities of the IRGC have not been confined to Iran’s borders. Through the Quds Force, and by supporting, organizing, and equipping militia armed groups, the IRGC has played a central role in regional destabilization and in committing serious human rights violations in other countries. The assassination of political opponents of the Islamic Republic abroad, including on European soil, represents a manifest example of the transnational nature of these actions, an issue that has been judicially substantiated in authoritative rulings, including the verdict of the German court in the Mykonos case.

The Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran believes that, in order to achieve full effectiveness, the European Union’s decision must be accompanied by complementary measures, including the judicial prosecution of those who order and perpetrate these crimes, the imposition of targeted sanctions, and an end to the de facto impunity enjoyed by individuals responsible for serious human rights violations and terrorist acts.

We emphasize that the attainment of lasting peace, stability, and peaceful coexistence in Iran requires the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, the guarantee of equal rights for all citizens, the recognition of the rights of the historical nationalities, and the establishment of a democratic and federal system grounded in the rule of law and the free will of all the peoples of the country.

The Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran calls upon the European Union and the international community, in accordance with their international obligations, to stand alongside the people of Iran, particularly the nationalities subjected to open discrimination, and to ensure that grave and systematic human rights violations and terrorist acts do not remain without accountability and justice.

Congress of Nationalities for a Federal Iran
30 January 2026