As Tehran intensified threats against Europe over prospects of designating the IRGC as a terrorist group, hardliner daily Kayhan threatened military attack on EU forces.

The firebrand Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor of the flagship hardliner newspaper -- which is funded by the Supreme Leader – condemned the European Parliament’s resolution, which was passed overwhelmingly on January 19, calling on the EU to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization. 

“The European Union does not know that this action will backfire and make the armed forces of the Islamic Republic’s attacks on the military of the EU member states legal and legitimate,” he said. 

Shariatmadari, who often speaks for Ali Khamenei, added that if the EU council acts on the resolution by the parliament and designates the Guards, the Islamic Republic will retaliate and designate "the forces of the European Union member states as terrorists".

Known for his repeated calls to close the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf in response to any punitive measure against Iran by the international community, Shariatmadari said "In this case, we will deal with them as we deal with other terrorists."

He emphasized that “EU-affiliated forces have been present in the region and are available to us."

The regime’s saber-rattling had started even before the vote but has intensified since the Thursday session. 

Malek Shariati, the spokesman of the Parliament's Energy Committee, also threatened that if the IRGC is officially listed as a terrorist group in Europe, "their forces will be terrorists in our opinion, and the entire European commercial transit route in the region will no longer be safe."