BRUSSELS — The EU is closing in on adding Iran’s feared paramilitary forces to its list of terrorist organizations in response to a brutal crackdown on protests, after France dropped its opposition to the move.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could be added to the list if it secures support at a meeting of the bloc’s foreign affairs ministers in Brussels on Thursday, where they are set to impose other sanctions on the Iranian regime. If added to the list, the branch of the Iranian military would be in the same category as al Qaeda and Daesh.

Several countries, including France and Italy, had opposed the move, arguing it would close the limited diplomatic channels with Tehran. However, France, which was the staunchest opponent of the terror designation, on Wednesday evening dropped its opposition, the Elysée Palace told POLITICO. Earlier, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said that “it is essential to combat the impunity of the perpetrators of this bloody repression.”

Rome changed camps in the lead-up to the summit, citing the brutality of the Iranian crackdown, and Madrid now also supports the move, according to a statement shared with POLITICO by the Spanish foreign ministry. Designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terror group would require unanimous support from the EU’s 27 countries.

The latest footage leaking out of Tehran of the brutal crackdown had crossed “a big line” for EU countries, said Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel, “so hopefully we will see some movement” on the Revolutionary Guard terror designation at Thursday’s meeting. “At least it will be something that’s on the table.”

The exact number of those killed in the crackdown is difficult to confirm due to an internet blackout, but estimates start at around 6,000 and could be much higher, he said.

Before dropping its opposition, Paris had cautioned that designating the Revolutionary Guard as a terror group may harm French interests and undercut the leverage it could use to try to rein in the theocratic government.

For European countries with embassies in Tehran, one EU diplomat said, the Revolutionary Guard would be “among the main interlocutors” with the regime, so banning contact with its personnel would be difficult to manage. The diplomat was granted anonymity to speak freely.

According to Alex Vatanka, an Iran expert at the Middle East Institute in Washington, the Revolutionary Guard “is the state within the state.” He added: “They are integrated into the highest parts of the regime and involved in many of the things the West cares about; the nuclear program, the missiles, Iran’s regional activities.”

One of the arguments against putting the Revolutionary Guard on the terror list was fear of potential reprisals. Iran has repeatedly used a strategy of arresting Europeans to use as bargaining chips in international diplomacy, including former EU official Johan Floderus, who was released from the notorious Evin Prison in 2024. Paris has secured the release from Evin of two of its nationals — Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris — who are now under house arrest at the French Embassy in Tehran.

“We need to send a strong signal,” van Weel said. The Revolutionary Guard “is the glue and the backbone holding this regime together, directing most of the violence, being in charge of most of the economic activity, whilst the rest of the country is in poverty, so I think it’s a key enabler of the atrocities that we’ve seen happening not only in Iran but also in the region,” he added.

Separately, ministers meeting Thursday are expected to approve asset freezes and visa bans on 21 Iranian individuals and entities over the human rights violations, and a further 10 over Tehran’s supply of weapons to Russia for its war on Ukraine.

The U.S. designated the Revolutionary Guard as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019 and has repeatedly pressed the EU to follow suit. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned “time is running out” for the regime and that a “massive Armada” was “moving quickly, with great power, enthusiasm, and purpose” toward the country.

“Like with Venezuela, it is ready, willing, and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary,” Trump said, referring to the U.S. operation to capture Nicolás Maduro. He added that he hoped Tehran would “Come to the Table” to negotiate a deal to abandon its nuclear weapon ambitions.

Clea Caulcutt contributed to this article.