Iran summons EU ambassadors to protest Revolutionary Guard listing as terror group

[AP Photo]

Iran said yesterday it had summoned all of the European Union ambassadors in the Islamic Republic to protest the bloc’s listing of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard as a terror group.

The move came as Turkey tried to organize a meeting between the U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian officials, seeking to jump-start talks to ease the threat of U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic, two Turkish officials said.

The American military has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the Mideast. It remains unclear whether President Donald Trump will decide to use force, though regional countries have engaged in diplomacy in an effort to halt a new Mideast war breaking out.

“Trump is trying to calibrate a response to Iran’s mass killing of protesters that punishes Iranian leaders without also embroiling the United States in a new, open-ended conflict in the region,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank said yesterday.

“Some Trump aides seek to exploit Tehran’s weakness to secure major concessions from the regime, but Trump has set conditions for a diplomatic resolution that Tehran cannot accept.”

EU sanctions draw Iran’s anger

The EU agreed to list the Guard as a terror group last week over its part in the bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in January that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained.

Other countries, including the U.S. and Canada, have previously designated the Guard as a terrorist organization. While the move is largely symbolic, it does add to the economic pressure squeezing Iran, particularly has the Guard has a major influence on the country’s economy.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei told journalists that the ambassadors had begun to be summoned on Sunday and that process went into yesterday as well.

“A series of actions were reviewed, various options are being prepared and were sent to the related decision-making bodies,” Baghaei said. “We think that in coming days, a decision will be made about a reciprocal action by the Islamic Republic of Iran toward the illegal, unreasonable and very wrong move by the EU.”

Iran’s parliament speaker said Sunday that the Islamic Republic now considers all EU militaries to be terrorist groups, citing a 2019 law.

The Guard emerged from Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution as a force meant to protect the Shiite cleric-overseen 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, allowing it to thrive.

The Guard’s Basij force likely was key in putting down the demonstrations, starting in earnest from Jan. 8, when authorities cut off the internet and international telephone calls for the nation of 85 million people. Videos that have come out of Iran via Starlink satellite dishes and other means show men likely belonging to its forces shooting and beating protesters.

Turkey tries to organize Iran-US talks

In Turkey, officials have been trying to organize talks with Iran and Witkoff there, two Turkish officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to brief journalists. One described the goal as trying to have Witkoff meet the Iranians by the end of the week, if possible.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Witkoff met multiple times last year in negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program in Rome and Oman, but never finalized a deal. On June 13, Israel launched a series of attacks on Iran that sparked a 12-day war between the countries, effectively halting those talks. The U.S. during the war bombed three Iranian nuclear sites.

Baghaei declined to give any specifics about the possibility of talks in Ankara.

“What is clear is that we are engaged with reviewing either principles and details related to this diplomatic process,” he said. “It is natural that regional countries have intensified their efforts.”

Axios first reported on the possible talks in Turkey.

Guard drill in Strait of Hormuz ‘ongoing’

Baghaei also said a drill by the Guard in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes, was “ongoing based on its timetable.” Iran warned ships last week that a drill would be carried out on Sunday and Monday, but prior to Baghaei’s comments had not acknowledged it taking place. The U.S. military’s Central Command issued a strong warning to Iran not to harass its warships and aircraft, or impede commercial vessels moving through the strait.

Satellite photos taken Sunday by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by The Associated Press showed small vessels moving at speed in the strait between Iran’s Qeshm and Hengam islands, some distance away from the corridor commercial vessels take. The Guard relies on a fleet of small, fast-attack ships in the strait.

Asked about whether Iran could face a war, Baghaei told the public “don’t worry at all.” He declined, however, to discuss whether Trump set a deadline for Iran to respond to America’s demands. JON GAMBRELL & SUZAN FRASER, DUBAI, MDT/AP