The French Parliament passed a resolution on January 29, 2025, condemning human rights abuses in Iran and urging the European Union to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. (IRGC) and Basij forces as terrorist organizations. The resolution denounces Iran’s “systematic violations of human rights,” including the widespread use of the death penalty as a “tool of repression,” state violence against women and children, and severe discrimination against women, which imposes “severe restrictions on their freedom, livelihood, and way of life.”

Here is what you need to know about the resolution, its passage, and what comes next. 

What is Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps? 

The IRGC is a powerful terrorist force that protects Iran’s fundamentalist regime, carries out horrific human rights abuses in Iran, supports the nation’s illicit ballistic missile and nuclear programs, and backs other anti-Israel and anti-American terror groups, including Hezbollah and Hamas. The IRGC plays a major part in the Iranian regime’s torturing of citizens in Iran and was key to the regime’s unprecedented ballistic missile attacks on Israelis in 2024.

The United States designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on April 8, 2019. This was the first time the U.S. had labeled part of a foreign government as an FTO. The designation subjects the IRGC to severe sanctions, including asset freezes, travel bans, and criminal penalties for those providing material support.

Why does the French resolution matter?

The passage of this measure creates more momentum for the EU as a whole to follow suit. An EU-level designation means that the IRGC’s assets would be frozen, and their members would no longer be allowed to operate, recruit, and fundraise throughout the bloc—a huge blow for the group, and the Iranian regime. In Europe, the IRGC’s primary targets are Iranian dissidents and Europe’s Jewish community. The group has also provided arms to Russia in its illegal war against Ukraine.

How did the resolution pass? 

The resolution, supported by AJC Paris, was introduced by a French member of Parliament Constance Le Grip. Le Grip is an alumna of AJC Project Interchange, which brings global opinion leaders and policymakers to Israel for customized, high-level educational experiences. She is also a member of AJC’s Transatlantic Friends of Israel (TFI) initiative, a cross-party, inter-parliamentary group dedicated to the postwar order of transatlantic security and cooperation bestowed on us by visionary American and European leaders.

What is AJC saying? 

AJC CEO Ted Deutch welcomed the resolution, calling it a critical step. “Glad to see the French Parliament vote in favor of placing the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the European terrorist list,” he said.

Ted emphasized AJC’s long-standing advocacy for the move, stating, “For years, AJC, through its offices, partnerships, and relationships across Europe, has pushed for this critical step.” He warned that the IRGC is “not just a threat to Jewish communities in Europe and worldwide—it is the backbone of a global terror network,” arming groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.

He further accused the IRGC of fueling instability in the Middle East, supplying weapons to Russia’s war in Ukraine, brutally suppressing its own people, and exporting terror worldwide. Calling for further action, he urged, “Now, it’s on the EU to follow through and officially designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization.”

What comes next? 

AJC is calling on the EU, and other nations that have yet to do so, to follow suit and officially designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Over the past year, AJC has supported Congressional efforts urging the EU to protect Jews in Europe and counter Iran’s destabilizing terror-supporting actions in the Middle East.

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