EU says listing Iran's IRGC as terrorists would dampen prospects of reviving nuclear deal

Drone sales to Russia for use in Ukraine and the continuing domestic repression have further hindered negotiations

The move is currently under discussion among the bloc's member states and championed by several countries. AFP

EU officials have said that listing Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist entity would further dampen prospects of reviving a defunct nuclear deal meant to curb Iran’s nuclear activities. The move is currently under discussion among the bloc's member states and championed by several countries including Germany.

The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell plays a strategic role as lead mediator between the parties — France, Germany, the UK, Russia and China — that signed a 2015 deal with Iran to block its access to a nuclear weapon in exchange for sanctions relief.

The US also took part but withdrew from what is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018.

Any of the parties could invoke multiple reasons to withdraw from the negotiations, which are currently stalled, and taking the unprecedented step of designating an Iranian state entity as a terrorist organisation would worsen the situation, an EU official told The National.

The possible listing of the IRGC is not directly linked to the JCPOA but it would contribute to an “overall atmosphere” which could hinder progress, said the official.

“There is no alternative to the JCPOA. Without it, Iran would already be today a nuclear power," they added.

Other events have hurt negotiations. They include the drone supply by Russia to Iran to use in its war against Ukraine and the continuing repression against anti-government protesters in Iran, which have included public hangings.

In the past months, the EU has issued sanctions against Iran for both these reasons.

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi told the European Parliament last week that he was “blind” on many aspects of Iran’s nuclear programme, including how much material, how much equipment and how many centrifuges the country currently has.

Mr Grossi, who heads the International Atomic Energy Agency, had previously said in November that Iran had produced uranium enriched up to 60 per cent. The JCPOA capped Iranian uranium enrichment at 3.67 per cent in exchange for sanctions relief.

Mr Grossi said he would visit Tehran in February and hoped to make “some progress”. He also described the JCPOA as an “empty shell" but said it was important to remain engaged because Iran does not have a nuclear weapon yet.

To list the IRGC as a terrorist entity, one of the EU’s 27 member states must make a proposal to the European Council which must be unanimously accepted. The proposal must be based on a legal decision made either by a court in an EU country or in a third country, but the latter is a "trickier" process, said the EU official.

European government representatives must decide whether they are willing to accept such a decision, based on whether they believe it was made by a court on a sound legal basis in a country with a strong rule of law.

“Obviously it would be Australia, Canada, Japan and the likes, not countries like Nicaragua or Syria where you don’t have an [independent] judiciary or rule of law,” they said.

EU countries are cautious about the legal implications of a listing because they fear legal challenges. Some previously listed entities like Palestinian militant group Hamas have successfully challenged their listing in court.

An EU diplomat told The National that the bloc's 27 foreign affairs ministers exchanged views on the IRGC's potential terror listing at their last meeting in Brussels on January 23.

Diplomats expect to receive a detailed written analysis from the EU council's legal service before their next meeting on February 20. "I think it’s very important to have this very clear legal judgement," said the diplomat.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that Berlin recently asked EU lawyers to advise whether a US federal court ruling on IRGC involvement in a bombing in Saudi Arabia in 1996 could allow for a terrorism listing. The answer from EU lawyers was reportedly negative.

Ultimately, said the official, it’s not up to the EU to decide how the JCPOA negotiations move forward.

“The EU is not a party to the deal. The participants can decide the future and fate of the deal. It’s not us, and it’s not Mr Borrell,” they said.

In an interview with the Financial Times published on Sunday, Mr Borrell confirmed that some EU heavyweights, which the daily identified as Germany and France, supported listing the IRGC.

But he warned that such a move would “make things certainly more difficult” with regards to the JCPOA.

“If the Iranian regime is so bad ... We have to try to avoid this kind of regime having a nuclear bomb,” Mr Borrell told the FT.

“And I do not know another way of doing that than making the JCPOA work.”