European Union foreign ministers on Thursday agreed to include the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the bloc's list of terrorist organizations, putting the guards in a category similar to that of Islamic State and al Qaeda and marking a symbolic shift in Europe's approach to Iran's leadership.

"Repression cannot go unanswered," European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on social media platform X.

"Any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise," she added.

Set up after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi'ite clerical ruling system, the IRGC has great sway in the country, controlling swathes of the economy and armed forces. The guards were also put in charge of Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programmes.

While some EU member states have previously pushed for the IRGC to be added to the EU's terrorist list, others have been more cautious, fearing that it could hinder communication with Iran's government and endanger European citizens inside the country.

But a crackdown on a nationwide protest movement earlier this month increased momentum for the move.

France and Italy, which were previously reluctant to list the IRGC, lent their backing this week.

Breakdown in communication

Despite concerns from some capitals that a decision to label the IRGC a terrorist organization could lead to a complete breakdown in ties with Iran, Kallas told reporters on Thursday morning that "the estimate is that still the diplomatic channels will remain open, even after the listing of the Revolutionary Guards".

The EU also adopted sanctions on Thursday targeting 15 individuals and six entities "responsible for serious human rights violations in Iran", the Council of the European Union said in a statement.

Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, Prosecutor General Mohammad Movahedi Azad, a number of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders and some senior law enforcement officials were among those sanctioned, the statement said.

Entities sanctioned on Thursday include the Iranian Audio-Visual Media Regulatory Authority and several software companies which the EU said were "involved in censoring activities, trolling campaigns on social media, spreading disinformation and misinformation online, or contributed to the widespread disruption of access to the internet by developing surveillance and repression tools".

The EU also sanctioned four individuals and six entities connected to Iran's drone and missile program and "decided to extend the prohibition on the export, sale, transfer or supply from the EU to Iran to include further components and technologies used in the development and production of UAVs and missiles," the Council said.

Iran's military on Thursday blasted the move to designate the country's Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organisation, saying the decision was "irresponsible and spite-driven". 

"The illogical, irresponsible and spite-driven action of the European Union has undoubtedly been taken in unquestioning obedience to the hegemonic and anti-human policies of the United States and the Zionist (Israeli) regime," a statement from the General Staff of the Armed Forces carried by the official IRNA news agency said.