The EU marked a symbolic shift in its approach to Iran’s leadership on Thursday by designating the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, following what turned out to be the Islamic Republic’s bloodiest crackdown of protests since its establishment in 1979.

“By trying to hit the Revolutionary Guards … the Europeans actually shot themselves in the foot and once again made a decision against the interests of their people by blindly obeying the Americans,” Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf told his fellow MPs, all wearing Revolutionary Guards uniforms in support of the elite force.

“According to Article 7 of the law on countermeasures against the designation of the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, the armies of European countries are considered terrorist groups.”

Qalibaf added that the national security parliamentary commission would deliberate on the expulsion of EU countries’ military attaches and follow up on the issue with the foreign ministry.

Set up after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system, the Revolutionary Guards have great sway in the country, controlling swathes of the economy and armed forces.