Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on a social media account on Sunday that, in response to the European Union's (EU) decision to list Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a "terrorist organization," Iran will consider the armed forces of all EU countries as "terrorist groups."
All EU countries concerned will bear the consequences of this decision together, Ghalibaf added.
According to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on Thursday, EU foreign ministers decided to designate Iran's IRGC as a "terrorist organization."
In a press release issued on the same day, the Council of the EU -- which represents the member states' governments -- said that it decided to impose restrictive measures on 15 Iranian officials and six entities.
With the latest decision, the EU's restrictive measures now apply to 247 individuals and 50 entities, the Council said. The measures include asset freezes, travel bans to the EU, and a prohibition on making funds or economic resources available to those listed.
Iran considers all EU militaries as "terrorist groups"
China has increased transportation capacity in its air, highway and railway systems to handle a busier 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, which is set to begin on Monday and expected to see 9.5 billion cross-regional passenger trips.
Each year during the period, millions of people working, studying, or living away from their hometowns return for the Spring Festival, China's most important traditional holiday, forming the world's largest annual human migration.
The railway network in China has geared up to meet the growing travel demand. It is capable of scheduling over 14,000 passenger trains per day during the peak period of the travel rush, representing a year-on-year increase of 5.3 percent in transportation capacity.
"By analyzing data flows, we are now capable of tracking passengers' demands and dynamically managing transportation capacity in areas such as ticket purchasing, waitlist management, and transportation capacity adjustments so that the transportation resources will be used more effectively to meet passengers' travel needs," said Zhang Zhiqiang, head of the operation support department at the China Railway 12306 Technology Center.
During the travel rush, China's civil aviation sector is expected to schedule an average of 19,400 flights per day, increasing by 5 percent year on year.
Helping meet capacity, a new terminal was put into test operation at Sanya Phoenix International Airport on Sunday to facilitate smooth travel in the island province of Hainan, which is a popular tourism destination for people from home and abroad during the Spring Festival holiday.
The country is also expected to handle record-high daily self-driving trips and highway traffic volume during the travel rush period.
The Spring Festival, or the Chinese New Year, falls on February 17 this year. The official holiday lasts nine days, with the travel rush running through March 13.
China increases transportation capacity to handle busier Spring Festival travel rush
