As international criticism over the crackdown in Iran intensifies, Italy has also shifted its position regarding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the powerful military and security force of Iran’s regime. Antonio Tajani, Italy’s foreign minister, announced that Italy will submit a proposal in Brussels this week to have the IRGC placed on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations.
The foreign ministers of the 27 European Union member states are scheduled to meet in Brussels on Thursday to review the issue. Until now, Italy, alongside France and Spain, had been among the most prominent opponents of designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization by the EU.
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The opposition of these countries did not necessarily amount to support for the IRGC; rather, within the framework of appeasement policies, they sought to avoid completely cutting communication channels with Iran’s regime in order to preserve their commercial interests.
Despite this, the European Parliament last week once again passed, by an overwhelming majority, a resolution calling on the European Council to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization—an action reflecting mounting international political pressure on Iran’s regime.
U.S. representative to the United Nations: the killings in Iran are organized and state-driven
Mike Waltz, the United States representative to the United Nations, said on Sunday, January 25, in an interview with Fox News Sunday, that the ongoing crackdown in Iran amounts to killings backed by the government, warning that the true number of victims may be far higher than current estimates.
Referring to widespread internet shutdowns, disruptions to the Starlink satellite network, and even power outages across various regions of Iran, Waltz said that what is unfolding in Iran today constitutes a full-scale state-led massacre.
The U.S. representative to the United Nations further emphasized that the administration of President Donald Trump will take measured and coordinated steps in response to developments in Iran. According to him, the U.S. president will ensure that American military bases are fully protected, that Israel is safeguarded against any retaliatory actions by Iran’s regime, and that full coordination is maintained with allies and countries in the region.
Bercow: the scale of the Iran uprising would not have been possible without organization
John Bercow, the former Speaker of the UK House of Commons, described the scale and intensity of the protests in Iran as unprecedented in an interview with The Washington Times, saying that the vast size, geographical spread, and intensity of the uprising owe a great deal to organization.
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Referring to the role of organized opposition, he added that the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a major opposition coalition, has repeatedly stressed that overthrowing a repressive government is not possible without a cohesive internal network. Bercow described this as a key distinction between the current protests and past, fragmented movements.
In another part of the interview, the former Speaker of the House of Commons referred to the leadership of the National Council of Resistance and said that Maryam Rajavi provides inspiring and outstanding leadership. He said she never talks about herself, does not repeat her own name, and does not say that she must be the leader.
Bercow also compared political currents claiming leadership of Iran’s future, stressing that there are fundamental differences between monarchist views and the democratic plans of the National Council of Resistance. According to him, Reza Pahlavi remains committed to the outdated concept of aristocratic monarchy and feudalism, which he described as being in clear contradiction with the democratic agenda of the organized opposition.
