Reps. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) and Brad Sherman (D-CA) are leading a bipartisan group of legislators ahead of a meeting of European Union officials on Thursday urging the EU to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. 

Tenney, Sherman and 23 House lawmakers sent a letter to European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas on Wednesday encouraging the EU to “join the United States, Canada, and Australia” in designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization and outlining the IRGC’s record of supporting terrorism abroad, including in Europe. 

“As you know, the Islamic Republic of Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terror. The IRGC has not only committed terrorist acts throughout the Middle East but has also carried out attacks throughout the EU and against EU citizens – all while continuing to brutalize its own citizens at home in Iran, with a brutal crackdown this month leading to the murder of an estimated 12,000 Iranian protesters,” the letter states. 

“The IRGC’s targeting of EU citizens includes attacks in France, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, and Cyprus,” it continues. “These attacks span from cyberattacks and surveillance operations to targeted assassinations and synagogue bombings. Additional attacks have occurred in countries bordering the EU, such as Switzerland, the UK, Albania, and Türkiye.”

The letter was sent ahead of a Thursday meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels, where new sanctions, which target around 20 Iranian individuals and groups associated with the crackdown on Iranian protesters, are expected to be approved. France, which had remained the leading holdout among EU member states in opposing adding the IRGC to its list of terrorist organizations, announced on Wednesday evening that it was dropping its opposition to the move as a result of the Iranian regime’s violent crackdown on protesters. 

Italy has also expressed concern about the move, and it is not clear how either country’s foreign ministers will vote when the IRGC terror designation, which is separate from the sanctions against the 20 Iranian entities, comes up for a vote on Thursday.

“As recently as April 3, 2025, the European Parliament overwhelmingly voted for a resolution reiterating its call to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization,” the lawmakers wrote. “However, to date, the EU has still not moved on this important matter, despite growing consensus amongst EU member states.”

“We respectfully urge you to prioritize the designation of the IRGC during tomorrow’s meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council given its important and timely nature,” they added. “As the people of Iran rise up to protest their brutal oppression by the mullahs and face violence in response, designation of the IRGC as a terror group is more than appropriate. It sends a clear message that Europe stands with the United States in opposing terror, human rights abuses, and the slaughter of innocent Iranians.”

Lawmakers who cosigned the letter include Reps. Joe Wilson (R-SC), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Chris Smith (R-NJ), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Deborah Ross (D-NC), Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Marlin Stutzman (R-IN), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Mike Carey (R-OH), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), James Baird (R-IN), Dina Titus (D-NV), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Juan Vargas (D-CA), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) and Dan Goldman (D-NY).

In statements to Jewish Insider, Tenney and Sherman reiterated their call for the EU to take action against the IRGC at Thursday’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

“For decades, the IRGC has waged a campaign of terror against its own people and others around the world, including numerous attempted attacks on EU soil. I have for years urged the EU to join the U.S. in designating the IRGC as what they are: a terrorist organization.” Sherman, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, said. “As the brave Iranian people continue to fight for their freedom from the Islamic Republic, the world must stand with them completely and unequivocally – including by sanctioning the IRGC, whose Basij militia continues to murder thousands of Iranian protesters.”

“The IRGC is not a conventional military force. It is the central engine of Iran’s global terror network and a tool of violent repression against its own people,” said Tenney. “With the newfound consensus among EU member states and overwhelming evidence of the IRGC’s terrorist activity, including attacks on European soil and plots targeting Americans, the European Union must act at today’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting to designate the IRGC.”

Tenney added that the move “would send a clear message that terror, human rights abuses, and state-sponsored violence will not be tolerated. This bipartisan effort builds on my years of advocacy for our allies to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, including Canada and Australia, both of whom have already designated the IRGC. This letter urges our European allies to stand with the United States and formally designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization without further delay.”