Iran’s parliament on Sunday, February 1, 2026, formally declared the armies of European Union member states to be “terrorist groups”, a retaliatory move against the bloc’s decision last week to list Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation.
At a session marked by symbolic defiance, Iranian lawmakers donned the green uniforms of the IRGC, the powerful paramilitary force with deep political clout, and chanted slogans including “Death to America,” “Death to Israel,” and “Shame on you, Europe,” according to state television footage broadcast from Tehran.
Announcing the controversial declaration, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the designation of European militaries as terrorist organisations was authorised under Iran’s own legal framework.
“According to Article 7 of the Law on Countermeasures Against the Declaration of the IRGC as a Terrorist Organisation, the armies of European countries are considered terrorist groups,” Ghalibaf told lawmakers during the session.
He accused the EU of acting at the behest of the United States and what he termed the “Zionist regime,” asserting that Brussels had “shot themselves in the foot” by blacklisting the IRGC.
Ghalibaf said Iran’s National Security Parliamentary Commission would now consider expelling military attachés from EU member states and would work with the foreign ministry to pursue the matter through diplomatic channels, although he did not specify what other concrete actions might follow.
The parliamentary session came just days after the European Union formally designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation in response to Tehran’s handling of nationwide unrest, described by rights groups as one of the deadliest crackdowns in the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.
Under the EU’s decision, which was agreed by member states’ foreign ministers, the designation imposes sanctions including asset freezes, travel bans and a prohibition on financial support for listed entities.
Western capitals, including the United States, Canada and Australia, had already placed the IRGC on their own terror lists, heightening the symbolic impact of the EU’s move.
Iranian officials have blasted the EU’s action as “illegal” and politically motivated. The country’s Ministry of Intelligence said the IRGC remains on the “frontline against state terrorism by America and the Zionist regime,” asserting that the force has played a central role in regional security.
The designation has also been framed domestically as vindication of the IRGC’s role, with Ghalibaf arguing that the EU’s move inadvertently boosted support for the Guards within Iran.
While Tehran claims its response is grounded in a 2019 law on reciprocal measures following the U.S. terror listing of the IRGC, Western diplomats view Iran’s declaration as largely symbolic, with unclear legal or operational consequences.
The development comes amid broader geopolitical strains. Washington has increased military presence in the Middle East and warned Tehran against further provocations, while negotiations between the U.S. and Iran continue to face obstacles.
