The EU has the tools to impose real costs on the IRGC’s repression and its operations in Europe. What’s missing is action.
Dr. Aidin Panahi/Saeed Ghasseminejad
Jan 29, 2026 - 12:20 PM
Share
Iran Escalates Violence
Europe continues issuing condemnations as the Islamic Republic escalates its crackdown. Since protests erupted last December, Iranian security forces - including the IRGC and police - have repeatedly used unlawful lethal force, mass arrests, and systematic intimidation. The regime then added a second layer of control: a nationwide internet and telecommunications blackout, which is both a human rights violation and an operational shield for further abuses.
As reported by Time, at least 30,000 protesters were killed in just two days. The real number is likely much higher. In a nationwide communications blackout, fatalities are systematically undercounted. When the state suppresses reporting, blocks verification, and intimidates families, death tolls are revised upward as evidence surfaces. While precise figures are critical for accountability, the policy conclusion is already clear: Europe’s current posture imposes too little operational cost on the institutions executing repression and running hostile activity abroad.
Europe Can Act
Europe has the tools to respond; the gap is coordination and follow-through. This month, the European Parliament moved beyond rhetoric, banning Iranian diplomatic staff from its premises and publicly urging tougher measures. At the same time, debate over an EU terrorist listing for the IRGC has accelerated.
The Parliament has urged the Council to designate the IRGC, and affiliated entities such as the Basij and Quds Force, as terrorist organizations. This is an important political signal.
What Europe truly needs is a short, targeted program that hits the regime’s enabling systems:
- The coercive apparatus: the IRGC, Basij, and other security forces executing repression.
- External operational platforms: embassies, consulates, and networks used for intelligence, surveillance, and intimidation abroad.
- The blackout tool: internet and communications shutdowns that hide violence and block independent documentation.
Five Concrete Steps
Europe should implement the following five actions:
- Support U.S. efforts to weaken Iran’s repressive machinery.
The regime has imported foreign Shia militias to bolster its ranks, leading to the massacre of the Iranian populace. Targeting centers of oppression, along with their logistics and forces, is both morally and strategically justified. European support strengthens the Iranian people’s ability to fight back rather than opposing foreign action. - Finalize an EU-wide IRGC terrorist listing.
The EU’s counter-terror listing framework converts political judgment into enforceable restrictions. Under current rules, adding an entity requires a decision by a competent national authority (judicial or equivalent) that can serve as the legal basis for Council action. Member states with relevant casework, investigations, or judgments tied to IRGC-linked activity should elevate that basis into a coordinated Council file. The Council must then act unanimously, removing excuses for permanent inaction. - Shut down regime diplomatic platforms used for intelligence and intimidation.
Close embassies and consulates, expel regime diplomats, and dismantle networks hiding behind diplomatic privilege. Where minimal channels remain, confine them to a strictly controlled “interest section” under host-country supervision, with no consular footprint or movement flexibility. Declare personnel persona non grata, execute rapid expulsions, and freeze mission-linked assets and front entities that facilitate surveillance, coercion, and influence operations against diaspora communities. The European Parliament’s decision to bar Iranian diplomatic staff from its premises demonstrates the correct approach. - Break the blackout advantage.
The internet shutdown is not a side issue - it is part of the crackdown architecture. Europe can reduce the regime’s ability to operate “in the dark” by funding and scaling secure communications, anti-censorship tools, resilient access pathways, and training for civil society and independent documentation networks. All support should be legal, transparent, and rapidly deployable across member states. - Freeze the assets of the regime and its cronies.
Similar to measures taken against Russia, the EU can encourage member states to freeze the assets of the Iranian regime and its affiliates in Europe. This would put direct pressure on Khamenei and his inner circle, targeting those who benefit from repression.
These actions reinforce each other:
- A terrorist designation raises legal authority and operational costs for the regime.
- Diplomatic disruption removes cover for intimidation and clandestine networks operating inside Europe.
- Connectivity support reduces the regime’s ability to conceal mass violence and manipulate information during crackdowns.
Together, they offer Europe a real, actionable path to pressure Iran, hold the regime accountable, and support human rights and civil society in the country.
