Italy favors maintaining dialogue with Iran: Foreign minister

ROME

The European Union’s decision to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a "terrorist organization" should not mean cutting off dialogue with Tehran, Italy’s foreign minister said Thursday.

Speaking to Italian media following a meeting of the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, Antonio Tajani recalled that there was political consensus within the EU to list the IRGC as a "terrorist organization."

But that doesn’t mean the EU should stop its dialogue with Tehran, he noted

Tajani said the alleged deaths of thousands of people during mass protests in Iran was the main reason Italy changed its position towards the designation.

Tensions have escalated between Iran and European countries following recent protests in Iran, with European leaders condemning a “crackdown on protesters.”

Earlier Thursday, EU foreign ministers agreed to designate the IRGC as a "terrorist organization." The bloc's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said that "repression cannot go unanswered."

Comparing the "thousands and thousands of deaths" in Iran with the situation in Gaza, Tajani said that Italy had a duty to condemn the killings.

He said Italy has withdrawn some staff from its embassy in Tehran, but 20 remain and the embassy is still operating.

Responding to a question about concerns that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) personnel will have a security role at the Winter Olympics in Italy, he said the number would be limited, coordinated with Italian authorities, and pose no threat to public order or democracy.