JNS: European lawmakers call for Iran sanctions over Hamas attack

(October 31, 2023 / JNS) European parliamentarians are making a renewed push to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, and to concomitantly reinforce sanctions on the Islamic Republic in the wake of Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.

A statement released Monday by legislators in 19 countries across Europe calls out “Iran’s state sponsored terrorism and war crimes against Israel.” The lawmakers, who lead the Israel Allies Caucuses in their respective parliaments, call to “snap back E.U. sanctions” on Iran and to investigate the Islamic Republic for war crimes in connection with its support for Hamas.

Earlier this year, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of a measure calling for the European Union to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, but the move was stymied by E.U.’s policy chief Josep Borrell, who asserted that such a move was not possible until a European court had taken judicial action against the IRGC.

In the end, E.U. foreign ministers opted to add more names to the bloc’s list of individuals sanctioned for human rights abuses rather than to list the IRGC as a terrorist group. This fall, the Europeans maintained sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and on trade in ballistic missiles with Tehran.

The U.S. State Department designated the IRGC as a whole as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019.

Israeli officials have said that almost all of Hamas’s funding comes from the Islamic Republic.

“It is crucial for Europe to acknowledge Iran’s significant involvement in supporting and equipping Hamas in their destabilization of the Middle East,” said Leo van Doesburg, Europe Director of the Israel Allies Foundation. He noted that the Netherlands has already tabled the first such resolution in their parliament.

Founded a decade and a half ago, the Israel Allies Foundation has emerged as a faith-based powerhouse, with a global network of more than 50 caucuses around the world that mobilize political support for Israel based on shared Judeo-Christian values.

“Iran’s support of terrorist activities must be stopped at all costs, or the safety and security of innocent civilians worldwide is at risk,” said Josh Reinstein, Israel Allies Foundation President. “Iran’s terror proxies operate not only in Gaza, but across the Middle East, with a shocking show of support from radical Islamic groups in countries across the globe.”

Read the original article at JNS here.