The European Union (EU) moved Thursday to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, with Germany pledging to turn the decision into a legally binding listing as fast as possible.

The move also came alongside a new round of EU sanctions targeting Iranian officials and entities amid the violent crackdown on protests and mass killings that have swept across the country since Dec. 28.

Tehran’s military support for Russia was also included in the measures.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the designation and the sanctions package Thursday.

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"I welcome the political agreement on new sanctions against the murderous Iranian regime," von der Leyen wrote in a post on X. "And on the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. This was long overdue."

She added: "‘Terrorist’ is indeed how you call a regime that crushes its own people’s protests in blood. Europe stands with the people of Iran in their brave fight for freedom."

Meanwhile, Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the EU would move quickly to implement the designation, calling it a strong political signal that reflected the scale of repression inside Iran.

"The next step will be the rapid implementation towards a legally binding listing," Wadephul warned, adding that the EU stood "side by side with the Iranian people" against repression.

Wadephul accused the IRGC and its auxiliary forces of meeting protesters with extreme violence, carrying out executions, and having a destabilizing role across the Middle East.

As of Thursday, the Human Rights Activists News Agency reported 6,373 confirmed fatalities, with an additional 17,091 deaths under review.

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The organization also cited continued communication restrictions, limited internet restoration, and ongoing economic and social fallout, saying arrests and security pressure had entered what it described as a "post-crackdown phase."

According to Reuters, EU foreign ministers also approved new human rights sanctions targeting Iranian "individuals and entities" linked to the suppression of protests.

Those sanctioned include Iran’s interior minister, senior IRGC commanders, police chiefs, judges from revolutionary courts, and cyber officials involved in censorship and surveillance.

Some will also be sanctioned for "providing support" to Russia, Reuters noted.

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The U.S. designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in April 2019. Canada followed in June 2024. Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have also designated the IRGC as a terrorist group.

Advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) welcomed the EU’s move and urged swift implementation, calling on the U.K. to follow suit.

"UANI applauds the EU for announcing its intention to designate the IRGC, the Islamic Republic’s ideological army, as the terrorists that they are," the group said in a statement."We now urge the United Kingdom to proscribe the IRGC, following the lead of the EU, the United States, Canada, and Australia. The IRGC must be denied the ability to operate with impunity abroad."

Reacting to the news, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf criticized the EU's designation.

"The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is one of the strongest and most effective anti-terrorism forces in the world; only those who stand on the side of the terrorists themselves could deny the IRGC's record in the fight against ISIS terrorism," he said in a post on X.

EXCLUSIVE: UNRWA officials urged congressional staffers to oppose a potential Trump administration move to designate the U.N. agency as a foreign terrorist organization, and discussed UNRWA’s ongoing operations in Gaza and the West Bank, including cash-based assistance, during a Dec. 17 briefing, Fox News Digital has learned.

The video conference was organized by UNRWA USA, the American nonprofit that supports the agency through advocacy and fundraising. UNRWA USA Executive Director Mara Kronenfeld opened the briefing by saying the goal was to make clear that UNRWA "is still on the ground" in Gaza and the West Bank despite what she described as "the Netanyahu government's insidious efforts to systematically prevent UNRWA from continuing its life-saving humanitarian work."

During the meeting, briefers also raised reports that the U.S. government was considering designating UNRWA as a foreign terrorist organization and discussed with congressional offices what steps could be taken to "help prevent that and support UNRWA in its critical work," according to meeting details reviewed by Fox News Digital.

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Bill Deere, UNRWA’s director in Washington, said "press reports appear to be true" that the administration was considering a foreign terrorist organization designation for the agency.

"This would be unprecedented for a U.N. agency to consider this. It is certainly unwarranted," Deere said, asserting that "four separate independent investigations" dispute Israel’s allegations regarding UNRWA’s workforce. 

Deere urged congressional offices to respond forcefully.

"You can loudly express your displeasure," Deere said, arguing that the ramifications would extend beyond UNRWA and set a precedent affecting the broader U.N. system.

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"If they go ahead and do this, our recourse with regard to this is limited," he said, adding that one step that could be taken is that "Congress can override the designation."

The meeting featured UNRWA field leadership describing conditions and operations in Gaza and the West Bank.

Sam Rose, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, told participants that international staff were not entering Gaza because of the Israeli Knesset legislation, and that operations were being managed remotely.

Rose said that despite claims that UNRWA has been blocked, the agency’s services in Gaza haven’t stopped for a single day, pointing to primary healthcare, education, water and sanitation work, shelter operations and the use of UNRWA facilities as emergency shelters.

Rose also described the agency’s ability to operate programs that do not rely on immediate supply deliveries.

"Cash assistance and job creation programs are also able to continue," he said and added, "we're able to operate at scale."

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Roland Friedrich, introduced as director of UNRWA affairs in the West Bank, described UNRWA’s scale in the territory, including education, healthcare and assistance programs. He said UNRWA provides support to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, including aid that "can be cash assistance," along with other forms such as food vouchers and social protection payments.

Friedrich also described "cash for rent" assistance for displaced people, and argued that UNRWA’s presence plays a stabilizing role across multiple countries in the region.

The officials also discussed workarounds that allow UNRWA to keep operating under restrictions.

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Rose said UNRWA was still able to receive fuel and that certain coordination occurred through third parties, describing indirect engagement involving U.N. channels. He said fuel could run power generators and water pumps and emphasized the importance of keeping basic services running.

On aid flows, Rose said Israel was reporting truck numbers that reached 600 per day, and he said he did not have reason to doubt the overall count. At the same time, he argued that the mix of goods entering had shifted, with commercial supplies playing a larger role while certain humanitarian items remained restricted for U.N. agencies. He described what he called a two-tier system, where some items blocked from U.N. use could enter through private channels.

Beyond the operational discussion, the briefing included explicit advocacy aimed at congressional offices.

Kronenfeld urged participants to support legislation described in the meeting as the UNRWA Funding Emergency Restoration Act of 2025, and she thanked offices already backing efforts to restore U.S. funding, describing the United States as historically UNRWA’s largest donor before the funding halt in 2024.

UNRWA USA did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Fox News Digital. UNRWA also did not respond.

William Deere, director of the UNRWA Representative Office in Washington, D.C., provided the following statement in response to a request for comment from Fox News Digital:

"UNRWA participates in briefings hosted by the UNRWA USA National Committee and attended by bicameral groups of Republican and Democratic staff from Capitol Hill, as well as think tanks and nongovernmental organizations. Briefings like these are important opportunities for the Agency to respond to the government of Israel’s ongoing disinformation campaign suggesting that UNRWA is no longer actively working in Gaza. Quite the opposite is true. Every day, UNRWA staff are delivering critical services in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In fact, in a recent letter to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, UNRWA thanked President Trump for negotiating the ceasefire, which allows the world to turn to Gaza’s future."

Deere added: "In Gaza, UNRWA medical personnel deliver 40 percent of primary healthcare and play a critical role in distributing water, promoting public health through immunization campaigns, pest control, nutrition screenings, and the disposal of solid waste. UNRWA is also leading the way in Gaza education, stepping up its ‘back to learning’ program, with almost 70,000 children now accessing the Agency’s in-person learning activities. The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is also a challenging area in which to work, especially given the various laws approved by the Israeli Knesset, and policymakers are always interested to hear the impacts of these laws firsthand from our experts."

One of Iran’s most senior officials issued a direct threat against President Donald Trump Thursday while warning that U.S. military action would provoke retaliation against American forces across the Middle East, according to Iranian media reports.

The remarks came as well-placed sources confirmed to Fox News Digital at least one American aircraft carrier was being repositioned toward the Middle East amid rising tensions with Tehran.

Senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) General Mohsen Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council, reportedly made his threat during a public address.

"Trump has said his hand is on the trigger. We will cut off his hand and his finger," Rezaei said, according to Iran International.

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The outlet also said that Rezaei maintained that Iran would abandon any notion of a ceasefire if attacked. 

"If we move forward, there will be no talk of a ceasefire anymore," he said. "You do not pay attention to the restraint and strategic patience we have shown. Stop right now. Step back, otherwise none of your bases in the region will be safe," Rezaei added.

The threat surfaced as at least one U.S. aircraft carrier could be moving toward the Middle East, according to sources.

Officials have not disclosed whether it is USS Abraham Lincoln, currently operating in the South China Sea, or one of two carriers that departed Norfolk and San Diego earlier this week.

Military sources said transit to the region could take at least a week, with additional U.S. air, land and sea assets expected to follow to provide Trump with military options should he order strikes against Iran.

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Rezaei is one of Iran’s most powerful military figures. He served as commander in chief of the IRGC from 1980 to 1997 and is currently vice president for economic affairs, secretary of Iran’s Supreme Council for Economic Coordination and a senior figure in the Principlist Resistance Front of Islamic Iran.

In 2006, Argentine authorities issued an international arrest warrant for Rezaei in connection with the 1994 AMIA Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires. He was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in January 2020 under Executive Order 13876 for advancing Iran’s destabilizing objectives.

During his tenure, the IRGC expanded repression at home and supported terrorist proxy groups abroad, including Hezbollah.

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Meanwhile, unrest inside Iran continued into its 19th day. According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), at least 2,677 arrests have been recorded with 1,693 additional cases under investigation.

Another agency also reported expanded communication blackouts, including the shutdown of landlines in some areas.

"They are continuing as before, but not at the pace before the slaughter of thousands and the arrests," Ali Safavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) told Fox News Digital, claiming as many as 50,000 detainees.

"There is still a total shutdown of the internet. Security forces are raiding residential areas and going to people’s rooftops. They started destroying satellite dishes," Safavi said before describing clashes continuing through Wednesday night into Thursday in Tehran and Kermanshah, including gunfire.

NCRI President-elect Maryam Rajavi also urged the international community to act immediately to secure the release of detainees and demanded an urgent international fact-finding mission to Iran’s prisons.