Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi on Thursday welcomed the European Union’s (EU) decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
“This important step sends a message to the criminal regime that it has no global legitimacy. We now need further concrete action to protect the Iranian people and to support a legitimate transitional government leading Iran to democracy," said Pahlavi.
The EU announced the designation earlier on Thursday, with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas, saying in a statement, "Repression cannot go unanswered."
Kallas called the move "decisive" and added that "any regime that kills thousands of its own people is working toward its own demise."
The designation was made possible after France said it would support the move, withdrawing its longstanding opposition to it.
Pahlavi, 65, has lived in the United States since before his father was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution and has become a prominent voice in the current protest movement.
Iran’s opposition remains deeply fragmented, divided among rival factions including monarchists who support Pahlavi, and has little organized presence inside the country.
US President Donald Trump recently stopped short of fully endorsing Pahlavi as a potential future leader.
“He seems very nice, but I don't know how he'd play within his own country," Trump told Reuters. “And we really aren't up to that point yet. I don't know whether or not his country would accept his leadership, and certainly if they would, that would be fine with me."