EU foreign ministers are expected to agree Thursday to put Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the bloc’s “terrorist list” after a deadly crackdown on mass protests, the EU’s foreign policy chief said.

“If you act as a terrorist, you should also be treated as terrorists,” top diplomat Kaja Kallas told journalists ahead of the ministers’ meeting in Brussels, saying it was “likely” that sanctions would be put in place.

“This will put them on the same footing with al-Qaeda, Hamas, Daesh,” Kallas said, using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group.

The symbolic move from the EU will send a strong message of condemnation to Iran after thousands were reported killed during the protests that rocked the country.

Ahead of the vote on sanctioning the entire IRGC, the 27-nation bloc approved visa bans and asset freezes on 21 state entities and Iranian officials — including the country’s interior minister — over the brutal repression.

Iranian authorities acknowledge that thousands were killed during the protests, giving a toll of over 3,000 people, but say the majority were members of the security forces or bystanders killed by “rioters.” Rights groups and media reports dispute this, saying the toll is far higher and potentially in the tens of thousands, and noting that protesters were killed by security forces including the IRGC directly firing upon them.

“The estimate is that still the diplomatic channels will remain open even after the listing of the Revolutionary Guards,” Kallas........

© The Times of Israel