Monitoring Desk
TEHRAN: Iranian foreign minister on Sunday said that any retaliatory measure, including a pullout of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), will be possible if European Union does not change its anti-Tehran positions.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made these remarks in an interview with the official parliamentary news agency ICANA. To a question whether withdrawal of Iran from the NPT and expulsion of the inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be among Tehran’s retaliatory measures if the EU blacklists the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist group.”
The European Parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution calling the EU to designate the IRGC as a “terrorist organization.” The foreign minister described the move as merely a show; according to remarks by his Swedish counterpart Tobias Billstrom, whose country holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, the Westerners do not seek to enforce the resolution.
Iran’s Revolution Guards Corps
He noted that the EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell also said in a Thursday phone call that Europe does not seek to implement the motion, which is merely a reflection of the emotions of part of the European Parliament’s members.
Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, on Sunday vowed that the legislative body would brand European countries’ armies that are present in the Middle East region as “terror organizations and groups” should Europe blacklist the IRGC, according to semi-official Tasnim news agency.
