Same build-up as Iraq War

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LIVE: EU labels Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as ‘terrorist organisation’

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Trump says US ready to attack Iran with ‘speed and violence’

By Stephen Quillenand Usaid Siddiqui

Published On 29 Jan 202629 Jan 2026

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• The European Union has designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist organisation” after a meeting of European foreign ministers, EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas says.
• Iran’s foreign minister says the Iranian armed forces are ready to “immediately and powerfully” respond to any possible attack by the United States.

68 UpdatesAuto-updates

• 8m ago

   (21:00 GMT)

  Iran’s parliament speaker says IRGC one of the strongest forces combatting terrorism

  Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament, says that the EU designation of the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is unfounded because it is “one of the strongest and most effective counterterrorism forces in the world”.

  He stressed the IRGC’s long history of combating ISIL (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria, saying that this history cannot be denied “except by those who have sided with the terrorists themselves”.

  Qassem Soleimani, former leader of the IRGC’s Quds Force before being assassinated by a US strike in 2020, during Trump’s first term as US president, is noted for fighting alongside local militias and cooperating with Iraq’s armed forces to defeat ISIL.
• 23m ago

   (20:45 GMT)

  WATCH: Iran slams EU’s ‘terrorist’ designation for IRGC as hypocritical

  Iran’s foreign minister labelled the EU’s claimed commitment to “universal human rights” hypocritical after the bloc labelled the IRGC a terrorist organisation while continuing to shield Israel from accountability for its genocidal war on Gaza.

  Watch the video below:

  

  1:27

  Iran slams EU’s ‘terrorist’ designation for IRGC as hypocritical
• 38m ago

   (20:30 GMT)

  International Olympic Committee ‘concerned’ about Iranian athletes’ welfare

  The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has shared a message of concern for Iranian athletes amid unrest in the country, saying it would use “quiet sport diplomacy” to assist when possible.

  “At this moment in time, we are particularly concerned about the situation of Iranian athletes impacted by the events unfolding in their country – as we are with all athletes who face conflict and tragedies elsewhere in the world,” the IOC ​said in a statement.

  “We have to be realistic about the IOC’s ability to directly influence global and national affairs. At the same time, we will continue to work with our Olympic stakeholders to help where we can, often through ‌quiet sport diplomacy,” the organisation added.

  The statement follows a report by the London-based Iran International news channel, which Al Jazeera could not independently verify, that a 19-year-old wrestler was killed by security forces last week in Iran’s southwestern city of Andimeshk.