Tehran, Feb. 2 -- Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf announced that Tehran now considers the armies of European countries as terrorist groups, calling it a reciprocal response to the European Union's decision to blacklist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported that Qalibaf made the remarks during an open session of Parliament, days after EU foreign ministers classified the IRGC as a "terrorist" entity, a move Iran's Foreign Ministry denounced as "unlawful, unjustified, and duplicitous".

Defending the force, Qalibaf said, "The IRGC is the world's most unique anti-terrorism institution, which, with the help of the people of the region, brought down the Daesh rule and elim...