Encouraging the EU to DESIGNATE Resolution

H. Res. 288 In the House of Representatives, U. S., April 16, 2024. Whereas the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Basij paramilitary force have been used by Ayatollahs Khomeini and Khamenei to maintain the Iranian re- gime’s power; Whereas the IRGC Basij have been used to quash numerous protests and democratic uprisings in Iran, including the Green Movement; Whereas the IRGC Basij continue to perpetrate wide-scale human rights abuses inside Iran, including against women, children, and minorities; Whereas the IRGC Basij are actively suppressing the ongoing protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini and calls for the regime to be toppled; Whereas the IRGC Basij are responding to these demonstra- tions with violence, arrests, and murder, including the ar- rest of journalists covering these protests; Whereas the IRGC trains, funds, arms, and shares intel- ligence with dangerous proxy forces throughout the Mid- dle East and abroad, including Hezbollah, Palestinian Is- lamic Jihad (PIJ), the Houthis, and Kata’ib Hezbollah, which have targeted civilians and both Europeans and Americans; 2 •HRES 288 EH Whereas the IRGC continues to provide critical support to Bashar al-Assad and his autocratic regime in Syria; Whereas the IRGC is actively fueling Russian President Vladimir Putin’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine through the provision of hundreds of lethal ka- mikaze drones and overseeing plans for the construction of a new factory in Russia with the capacity to produce thousands of Iranian-designed drones; Whereas the Iranian-assisted Russian war of aggression poses a direct threat to European security and sovereignty; Whereas the IRGC has targeted dissidents around the world, including throughout Europe; Whereas the IRGC Quds Force is responsible for Iranian extraterritorial operations, and they likely played a key role in Iranian assassinations in the Netherlands, Swe- den, Denmark, France, Germany, Bulgaria, and Cyprus in recent years; Whereas the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Den- mark, and Albania have all either arrested or expelled Iranian Government officials implicated in terrorist or as- sassination plots in their respective countries; Whereas the IRGC engaged in a murder-for-hire plot to tar- get former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for their efforts targeting the IRGC and killing IRGC-Quds Force Com- mander Qasem Soleimani; Whereas the IRGC was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States in 2019; Whereas Iran executed British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari and as a result the United Kingdom is consid- ering designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization; 3 •HRES 288 EH Whereas in response to the European Union’s consideration of designating the IRGC a terrorist organization, IRGC Commander Hossein Salami has threatened European countries; Whereas the European Parliament in January 2023 voted 598 to 9 in favor of designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization as part of its annual foreign and security policy report; Whereas the European Parliament also in January 2023 voted overwhelmingly in favor separate Iran-focused reso- lution that called for designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization; Whereas thus far the European Union has only sanctioned individual members and leaders of the IRGC as terrorists but have not yet designated the IRGC in its entirety; Whereas under European Council Common Position of De- cember 27, 2001, on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism (2001/931/CFSP) (in this preamble referred to as ‘‘Common Position 931’’), the European Union can designate terrorist organizations if ‘‘a decision has been taken by a competent authority’’ that they are a terrorist organization; Whereas under Council Common Position 931 on combating terrorism, the European Union defines ‘‘competent au- thority’’ to include ‘‘a judicial authority’’; Whereas proposals for terrorist organization designations by the European Union can come from third-party coun- tries, including the United States; and Whereas previous Department of Justice investigations and convictions provide the European Union sufficient proof under Common Position 931: Now, therefore, be it 4 •HRES 288 EH Resolved, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Encouraging the European Union to Determine that the European Union Should Sanction the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Now As a Terrorist Entity Resolution’’ or the ‘‘Encouraging the EU to DESIGNATE Resolution’’. SEC. 2. EUROPEAN UNION DESIGNATION OF IRGC AS A TER- RORIST ORGANIZATION. The House of Representatives— (1) urges the European Union to expeditiously des- ignate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a ter- rorist organization under Common Position of December 27, 2001, on the application of specific measures to com- bat terrorism (2001/931/CFSP); (2) encourages the Biden administration make Eu- ropean Union designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization a diplomatic pri- ority in engagements with the European Union; and 5 •HRES 288 EH (3) welcomes the efforts of the international com- munity to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. Attest: Clerk.