Listing the IRGC Isn’t Enough. Europe Must Do More for Iranians

This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by one of our passionate readers, Ms Sara Rahmati, an international relations graduate currently based in Berlin with an interest in Public International Law. The opinions expressed within reflect only the writer’s views and not necessarily The European Sting’s position on the issue.

Listing the IRGC Isn’t Enough. Europe Must Do More for Iranians

There’s a particular brand of moral cowardice that has infected European politics in recent years. It manifests in the gap between what our leaders say and what they actually do. For weeks after one of the bloodiest massacres in modern history, that gap was a chasm.

Between 8 and 9 January, Iranian security forces slaughtered an estimated 30,000 to 36,500 protestors in the streets. In two days, the Islamic Republic murdered more of its own citizens than have died in many armed conflicts. They used rooftop snipers. Heavy machine guns. Overwhelming, indiscriminate force against unarmed demonstrators whose crime was demanding dignity and economic survival.

Europe’s initial response? Tweets. Statements of “deep concern”. The usual diplomatic hand-wringing whilst bodies piled up in morgues and grieving families searched through corridors lined with corpses.

Eventually, Europe acted. On 29 January, the EU designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation. It was the right decision and it was decades overdue. The IRGC orchestrated the January massacres, has assassinated dissidents on European soil and continues to supply weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Good. Now what?

Because listing the IRGC as a terrorist entity is not the end of this story. It’s barely the beginning. Iranians remain a population at acute risk. Thousands have been detained. Many face execution after sham trials. Survivors live under a regime that has demonstrated it will kill on an industrial scale to maintain power. Europeans cannot congratulate itself on finally doing the bare minimum and then move on. The designation must be the starting point for comprehensive action.

Start with enforcement because at the end of the day the IRGC designation is meaningless if it’s not rigorously implemented. That means closing down front companies, cutting off financial networks that allow Tehran’s elite to stash wealth in European banks and empowering enforcement agencies to pursue IRGC-linked activity. Companies must face real consequences for doing business with IRGC-affiliated networks. Empty designations that aren’t followed through are worse than useless, they’re cynical theatre.

Europe must amplify Iranian voices. Our media should be broadcasting footage of the massacres and interviewing survivors. Our diplomats should be meeting with opposition figures as a statement of where we stand. Our parliaments should be keeping Iran at the top of the agenda, not allowing it to slip away.

Moreover, why do European capitals continue to host Iranian ambassadors who represent a regime that has committed crimes against humanity? The European Parliament has banned Iranian diplomats from its premises. Every EU member state should follow suit. Cut Iran off entirely. No trade delegations, no cultural exchanges, no normalisation until fundamental change occurs.

Europe must also fund independent investigations and preserve evidence for future war crimes tribunals. Make clear that those who gave the orders, from Khamenei down will one day face justice.

The usual objections will be raised. “We’ve already designated the IRGC”. “We need communication channels.” “Isolation doesn’t work.” These are comfortable lies we tell ourselves to justify inadequate action.

The truth? Designating the IRGC was necessary, but not sufficient. Maintaining diplomatic niceties with a regime that has massacred tens of thousands isn’t pragmatism, it’s complicity. Every handshake with Iranian officials, every soft-pedalled statement, every delay in taking further action is a choice. The wrong one.

Europe loves to lecture the world about democracy and human rights. We’ve built institutions around these principles. But this is precisely the moment when those principles must be more than words. Iranians risked everything, tens of thousands paid with their lives for the same basic rights we take for granted. Those who survived now face arrest, torture and execution. The least we can do is stand with them in action, not just spirit. Not just in January when the world was watching, but now, next month and for as long as it takes.

History will record whether Europe rose to meet this moment or looked away after one strong statement. Whether we treated the massacre of tens of thousands as a crisis demanding sustained attention or as a headline we moved past.

We’ve taken the first step. The IRGC designation matters. But it’s only the beginning. Now comes the hard part: following through. Enforcing the designation rigorously. Protecting Iranian refugees. Isolating the regime completely. Documenting crimes. Amplifying voices. Refusing to let the world forget those blood-soaked streets in January.

Anything less is an insult to the courage of those who died and a betrayal of those still fighting for freedom. Europe finally acted. Now it cannot afford to stop.