EU Ministers to Vote on IRGC Terrorist Designation

European Union foreign ministers are set to convene in Brussels on Thursday to vote on designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, a move gaining momentum after key member states including France, Spain and Italy reversed their previous opposition.

The decision requires unanimous approval from all 27 EU nations and stems from Iran's recent violent suppression of nationwide antigovernment protests, which security forces led by the IRGC have carried out with deadly force. Protests erupted across Iran starting December 28, initially over economic hardships but quickly evolving into broader demands for political change. The unrest peaked on January 8 and 9, when authorities imposed a nationwide internet blackout and unleashed a severe crackdown, resulting in thousands of deaths and arrests.

Estimates of the death toll vary, with Iran's official figure at 3,117. Independent tracking by human rights groups has confirmed at least 5,858 fatalities, including some security personnel, while two senior officials from Iran's Ministry of Health reported to international outlets that as many as 30,000 people may have been killed during those two days...