ROME: Italy will urge its European Union partners this week to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation marking a significant shift in Rome’s position Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday.

Italy had previously resisted efforts to label the IRGC as a terrorist group, but Tajani said Iran’s violent crackdown on recent street protests, which reportedly resulted in thousands of civilian deaths demanded a firm response. In a post on X Tajani said the scale of civilian suffering could no longer be ignored.

He said he would raise the proposal at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday, calling for the IRGC’s inclusion on the EU’s terrorist list and for targeted sanctions against individuals responsible for the violence.

A terrorist designation would impose sweeping legal, financial and diplomatic restrictions, significantly curtailing the IRGC’s activities within Europe.

Formed after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, the IRGC wields enormous influence over Iran’s military, economy and strategic programmes, including its ballistic missile and nuclear initiatives.

Several EU member states have previously supported listing the IRGC, while others warned such a move could undermine diplomatic engagement with Tehran derail nuclear negotiations and endanger EU citizens held in Iran.

The debate has intensified following Iran’s latest crackdown on dissent. Although the IRGC is already subject to EU human rights sanctions Italy is now pushing for its formal designation as a terrorist organisation. EU diplomats say differing views among key members could still complicate the effort.