By Mohammad Yousefi
Brussels, 17 October 2024 – Against the backdrop of a pivotal European Union leaders meeting in the Belgian capital, a vibrant assembly of Iranians, supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), converged at Schuman Square, calling on the EU leaders to blacklist the IRGC. The gathering was a colorful display of determination and unity as the Summit deliberated on the perilous influence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Middle East and Europe, notably in Ukraine.
Amidst a sea of green, white, and red original Iranian flags and banners, the rally vociferously called on the EU to designate both the IRGC and Tehran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) as terrorist organizations. Protesters passionately advocated for the closure of Iran’s diplomatic missions in Europe, condemning them as epicenters of espionage and covert operations against Iranian expatriates and European citizens alike.
“As the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) has consistently argued, the IRGC must be designated as a terrorist organization without delay and expelled from the region immediately. The evidence of the IRGC’s involvement in global terrorism is overwhelming and longstanding. The delay in doing so is a result of appeasement policies and political compromises that have, unfortunately, emboldened the regime. These policies have not only allowed the regime to persist with its harmful actions but have also enabled terrorism to reach the very heart of Europe,” said Shahin Gobadi, a member of the NCRI’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
In a statement last June, 4,000 lawmakers from 50 countries, including 34 parliamentary majorities, joined 137 former heads of state or government, ministers, ambassadors, Nobel Laureates, and heads of international organizations, voice support for NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi’s Ten-point Plan and called for the blacklisting of the IRGC.
Earlier this week, the block of 27 European nations sanctioned Iran’s National Airline, Iran Air, for having delivered weapons and other equipment to Russia in its war against Ukraine. On Friday, an explosive report by from the Iranian dissident group the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) asserted that public information and intelligence obtained from inside the IRGC and Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) shows that the MOIS “has systematically used Iran Air to move MOIS agents and their equipment for terrorist activities outside of Iran.”
The MEK revealed that Iran Air had transferred shipments and packages necessary for activities of the MOIS in Europe to Austria while Assadollah Assadi MOIS station chief for Europe between 2015 and 2018.
Assadi was sentenced to 20 years in a Belgian prison for his plot to bomb an NCRI summit in Paris in June 2018. Three of his accomplices were also sentenced to lengthy prison terms and stripped of their Belgian citizenship.
The MEK said that flights between Iran and Beirut Airport in Lebanon often delivered advanced light and medium weapons, including anti-tank missiles, from Iran to Lebanon, particularly through runway 17, which it claimed “exclusively” belonged to Hezbollah.
