Guy Verhofstadt spent years as one of the most vocal defenders of European integration. As Brexit unfolded, the former Belgian Prime Minister became a fierce critic of Britain’s exit, arguing that a unified Europe was necessary to project strength on the global stage.
Now he’s turning that same intense scrutiny inward.
In recent addresses alongside Iranian opposition leaders like Maryam Rajavi of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Verhofstadt delivered a blistering critique of European foreign policy. His message is simple and uncomfortable for Brussels. The European Union has shown profound weakness when dealing with the regime in Tehran, and its strategy of appeasement isn't working.
The Flaw In Europe's Tehran Strategy
For decades, European diplomacy toward Iran rested on a single optimistic assumption. European leaders believed that by engaging with so-called moderates within the Iranian government, they could encourage internal reform and secure stability through trade and nuclear agreements.
Verhofstadt argues that this approach ignores reality. In the mullahs' regime, there is no meaningful distinction between moderates and hardliners. They share the same core objectives.
While Western diplomats pursued negotiations like the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Tehran used the time and funds to build out regional proxy networks. The regime poured resources into groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis while propping up Bashar al-Assad in Syria. At the same time, internal repression reached unprecedented levels, marked by thousands of political executions and severe crackdowns on domestic protests like the "No to Executions Tuesdays" campaign across Iranian prisons.
By treating Tehran as a standard diplomatic partner, the EU gave legitimacy to a leadership that routinely violates basic human rights and sponsors international aggression.
The Argument For Blacklisting The Revolutionary Guard
At the center of Verhofstadt's critique is the European Union's refusal to formally designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
The IRGC isn't just a regular military branch. It controls vast sectors of the Iranian economy, funds overseas armed militias, and operates the intelligence networks responsible for harassing and targetting Iranian dissidents on European soil.
Both the US and Canada have already blacklisted the IRGC. The European Parliament itself voted in favor of terrorist designation back in January 2023. Yet the European Council and top foreign policy officials hesitated, citing legal hurdles and fears of severing diplomatic channels entirely.
Leaving the IRGC off the terror list creates an enormous loophole. It allows economic and operational ties to persist, giving the regime's primary tool of internal terror and external subversion a buffer against full international isolation.
How Structural Paralysis Keeps Sanctions Weak
Why has the EU been so slow to act? The primary bottleneck lies in European governance rules.
Currently, major foreign policy decisions and sanction regimes require unanimous agreement among all member states. A single country can veto measures, diluting the sanctions package until it loses real bite. Currently, only a couple hundred Iranian individuals and entities face sanctions under EU rules, a fraction compared to the sweeping measures imposed on other rogue regimes.
Verhofstadt has repeatedly advocated for shifting foreign policy sanctions to qualified majority voting under EU treaty provisions. Without removing the unanimity requirement, individual member states with economic or energy ties to Tehran can hold the entire bloc back from taking decisive action.
Concrete Steps To Change The Middle East Equation
Talking about European weakness is easy. Changing course requires clear, uncompromising action. If European leaders want to stop funding and enabling Tehran's leadership, four concrete steps must happen immediately.
- Designate the IRGC in full. The European Council must move past diplomatic hesitation and officially label the IRGC a terrorist organization.
- End unanimity on foreign sanctions. Member states should adopt qualified majority voting for human rights sanctions to prevent single-nation vetoes from stalling action.
- Close regime intelligence fronts. European capitals need to shut down diplomatic facilities and proxy centers that spy on and intimidate political dissidents living in exile.
- Recognize democratic alternatives. Rather than clinging to hopes of reforming the current regime, Europe must grant diplomatic platform and recognition to organized Iranian opposition movements committed to a secular, democratic republic.
Europe cannot claim to defend international law and human rights while funding or normalizing trade with the very regime undermining both. Verhofstadt’s warning is clear, and time is running out for Brussels to listen.
