DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran said Monday it had summoned all European Union ambassadors to the country to protest the bloc’s listing of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group.
Iran has summoned EU ambassadors to protest the listing of the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist groupThe move comes as Turkey tries to arrange a meeting between US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian officials to begin talks to reduce the threat of US military action against Iran, two Turkish officials said.
The American military has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers to the Middle East. It remains unclear whether US President Donald Trump will decide to use force as regional countries engage in diplomacy.
“Trump is trying to determine a response to the massacre of Iranian protesters that punishes Iran’s leaders without involving the United States in a new, open-ended conflict in the region,” the New York-based Sophan Center think tank said Monday.
The 27-nation bloc agreed last week to list the Guard as a terrorist group to take part in a crackdown on nationwide protests in January that killed thousands and detained tens of thousands more.
Other countries, including the United States and Canada, have previously designated the Guard as a terrorist organization. While the move is largely symbolic, it adds to the economic pressure on Iran.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghai told reporters that the summoning of ambassadors began on Sunday and the process continued on Monday.
“We think that in the coming days, a decision will be taken on a reciprocal move,” Baghai said.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker said Sunday that the Islamic Republic now considers all EU military forces a terrorist group, citing a 2019 law. The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, said it was keeping diplomatic channels open with Tehran despite tensions and called for restraint from military action.
The Guard emerged from Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution as a force to protect the Shiite cleric-led government and was later enshrined in its constitution. It operates in parallel with the country’s regular armed forces and has expanded into private enterprise, giving it room to flourish.
Basij forces in the Guard likely played a key role in quelling the protests that began in earnest on January 8, when authorities cut off internet and international telephone calls for the nation of 85 million people. Videos that have emerged from Iran via the Starlink satellite dish and other means show what may appear to be members of its forces shooting and beating protesters.
On Monday, the UK government joined a number of countries that have sanctioned Iran’s interior minister, who oversees the country’s police, and nine other Iranians for their alleged role in aiding the violent crackdown. Individuals were subjected to immediate asset seizures and travel bans.
In Turkey, officials are trying to organize talks with Iran and Witkoff there, two Turkish officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters. One described the goal as trying to get Witkoff to meet with the Iranians by the end of the week, if possible.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi and Wittkoff met several times in Rome and Oman last year to discuss Iran’s nuclear program, but did not finalize any agreement. On June 13, Israel launched a series of attacks on Iran that sparked a 12-day war between the countries, effectively halting those talks. During the war, the US bombed three of Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry’s Baghai declined to give any specifics about the possibility of talks in Ankara. The US did not immediately comment on the potential talks.
Axios first reported the potential talks in Turkey. The Iranian mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wittkoff is expected to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli security officials on Tuesday, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly on the discussions and spoke on condition of anonymity. He will then travel to Abu Dhabi later in the week for Russia-Ukraine talks, the official said.
Baghai also said a guard exercise in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil trade passes, “is on his schedule.” was running on the basis of
Iran warned the ships last week that a drill would be carried out on Sunday and Monday, but had not acknowledged it was happening before Baghai’s comments. The US military’s Central Command has issued a stern warning to Iran not to harass its warships and aircraft or obstruct commercial shipping through the strait.
Satellite photos taken Sunday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by The Associated Press show small vessels moving in the strait between Iran’s Kesham and Hengham islands, some distance from commercial vessels in the corridor. The Guard relies on a fleet of small, fast-attack ships in the straits.
Asked whether Iran might face war, Baghai told the public “no worries.” But he declined to discuss whether Trump had set a deadline for Iran to respond to Washington’s demands.
Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Monday that prosecutors in Tehran filed charges against the head of state television’s Ofog channel as well as the producer and host of a show that mocked people killed in the crackdown.
The show, which aired on Saturday, saw the host refer to accusations made abroad about Iran hiding the bodies of victims in freezers when the US attacked.
The host asked the audience a multiple-choice question about where Iran would hide the bodies, listing things like ice cream freezers and supermarket refrigerators.
At least 6,848 people have been killed in the crackdown on protests, according to the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency, which has been consistent with other rounds of unrest in Iran. More deaths are expected. The Associated Press could not independently determine the death toll. An additional 49,930 people have been arrested, Human Rights Watch News Agency reported.
As of 21 January, the Iranian government put the death toll at a much lower figure of 3,117, with 2,427 being civilians and security forces, labeling the rest as “terrorists”. In the past, Iran’s theocracy has not downplayed or underreported the death toll from the unrest. However, the country’s presidency released a list of names on Sunday that it said included 2,986 of those killed, which it has not done in past protests.
Suzanne Fraser reports from Ankara, Turkey. Sam McNeill in Brussels, Amer Madhani in New York and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without text modification
