International Relations Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-17 ============================================================ Kieran O'Donnell (FG), Limerick City I thank Members for their patience; there was a vote in the Dáil just now. I thank Senator Keogan for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for foreign affairs and for Defence, Deputy McEntee. At the January Foreign Affairs Council, EU ministers discussed the current situation in Iran, particularly the EU’s response to Iran’s brutally violent repression of protesters. The Council agreed unanimously to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation. This decision was taken in response to the IRGC’s central role in the violent attacks on street protesters. The Council also agreed on additional sanctions being placed on persons directly involved or complicit in the attacks on protestors, including the Minister of Interior. Other sanctions were brought against those involved in Iran’s continuing support for Russia's illegal war of aggression in Ukraine, and expanded export controls. Both the Government and the European Union have condemned the actions of repression. Full information is emerging only slowly because of the authorities’ continuing restrictions on communications in Iran, but it is clear that many thousands have been killed and many more injured and imprisoned. Following political agreement at the council, the formal procedures for designating the IRGC as a terrorist organisation are now being worked through, and this should be completed quite quickly. This designation of the IRGC will introduce an asset freeze, a prohibition on providing funds and a travel ban on IRGC personnel. Many members of the IRGC are already subject to these restrictions under other EU sanctions regimes, including under the headings of global human rights, Iran’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, and Iran’s nuclear programme. All three of these sanction lists are kept under constant review, with names of key individuals and entities, including those in the IRGC, added as appropriate. There may well be further listings in relation to the recent violence, as further perpetrators are identified. The IRGC is a central pillar of the Iranian regime and the designation may well negatively impact on EU-Iran relations and member states' bilateral relations. We hope this is not the case. It was not agreed lightly but the actions of the IRGC have been a major concern for many years. It is its actions and those of the Iranian authorities, more broadly, which have made this step unavoidable. As the EU High Representative has stated, it remains essential to engage diplomatically with Iran to try to resolve the very many areas in which Iran's actions are a serious concern. The Minister welcomes engagement between Iran and the United States and hopes it will lead to agreement on how to address the legitimate concerns of the international community regarding the nature of Iran's nuclear programme. The EU and its member states remain open to dialogue with Iran on these and other issues. No EU member state has indicated any intention of breaking diplomatic relations with Iran. We intend to maintain relations with Iran, including resident embassies in both capitals, and to use these channels and other forums, such as the UN Human Rights Council, to press our concerns upon Iran on these issues of concern to encourage those who oppose repression and violence. Ireland will continue to monitor the situation in Iran. We call for the end of further violence and the full restoration of communication services. The Government will remain in close co-ordination with our EU partners on this issue. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-17