United States Designates Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as Terrorist Organization

The Donald Trump administration placed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the list of terrorist groups on Monday, April 8, 2019. Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, said at a press conference: “The blood of American soldiers is on the hands of the IRGC.”

The United States government has designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the list of terrorist organizations. Donald Trump, President of the United States, announced this news on Monday, April 8, 2019 (March 8) in Washington. According to him, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran is now on the blacklist of terrorist groups.

Donald Trump, President of the United States, announced this news at the White House and stated that placing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the blacklist of terrorist groups means that the IRGC “actively” uses terrorism as “an instrument of government policy,” supports it, and finances it.

This is the first time the United States has placed part of a government and an official military organization on the list of terrorist groups.

Now the U.S. Congress has one week to review this decision. If Congress does not object to the president’s decision, this determination will take effect.

Donald Trump said: “This is the first time the United States is designating another component of a foreign government on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. This action demonstrates the reality that Iran’s conduct is fundamentally different from other nations.”

The U.S. President added: “This decision sends a clear message to Tehran that its support for terrorism will have serious consequences. Because of the Iranian regime’s support for terrorist activities and until the regime ceases its reckless and hostile behavior, we will continue our financial pressure and increase the costs for the Iranian regime.”

Placing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the list of terrorist organizations gives the United States the ability to impose additional sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Donald Trump said in this regard: “This decision reveals the dangers of doing business with the IRGC. If you do business with the IRGC, you are financing terrorism.”

Initial Reactions

In initial reactions, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, praised the U.S. action to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.

Bahrain has also welcomed this U.S. action.

On the other hand, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council released a statement declaring that it considers “the U.S. regime as a state sponsor of terrorism and CENTCOM, known as the Central Command of the United States, and all forces affiliated with it as a terrorist group.”

Previously, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic, had called for reciprocal action and for the U.S. military to be designated as terrorist in Western Asia.

Zarif also participated on Monday, April 8, 2019, in an open session of the Majlis’ National Security and Foreign Policy Commission and announced the submission of a protest note to the Swiss Embassy regarding the U.S. placement of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the terrorist groups list.

According to the Majlis website, Ali Najafi Khoshroudi, representative of Babol, regarding the foreign minister’s presence in parliament, said: “The foreign minister, referring to the U.S. announcement of including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the list of terrorist groups, condemned this action and emphasized that such an action creates many dangers. Although the Islamic Republic of Iran has not been and is not seeking tension, if the United States makes such a decision, the Islamic Republic of Iran will take reciprocal action.”

Plan to Designate the U.S. Military as Terrorist

Hashmatollah Falahatzadeh, Chairman of the Majlis’ National Security Commission, also said: “In less than a few hours, American military forces in the region will be placed on the list of terrorist groups alongside ISIS.”

He said: “The first method of reciprocal action against the United States is the implementation of the law passed by the Majlis regarding reciprocal and proportional action against U.S. policy. If the entire spirit of this law is provided from the Majlis’ perspective in this regard, there is no need for an emergency bill in the Majlis, but otherwise, we will pass an emergency bill in the Majlis tomorrow.”

Previously, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders had warned that if the IRGC’s name is placed on the list of terrorist organizations, there would be serious consequences for U.S. forces, particularly in Western Asia.

Simultaneously, representatives of the Islamic Consultative Assembly had announced the existence of a plan that, if the IRGC is designated as terrorist, they would pass a law based on which Iran would also consider the U.S. military as a terrorist organization.

Accusations Against IRGC; Suppression of People, Support for Terrorism

Following the release of Donald Trump’s statement, Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State, said at a press conference: “The blood of American soldiers is on the hands of the IRGC.”

Pompeo accused the IRGC and the Iranian government of carrying out terrorist activities worldwide and said: “Members of the IRGC are not revolutionaries, but thieves and corrupt officials who have abused their power.”

Brian Hook, Head of the Iran Action Group at the U.S. State Department, who was also present at this press conference, said: “The IRGC plays an effective role in the suppression of the Iranian people, and this decision will reduce suppressions against the Iranian people.”

Hook also said: “The IRGC is the powerful arm of the Iranian regime. The IRGC is involved in half of Iran’s economy, and we are telling the world what the problems will be in dealing with the IRGC.”

Previously, the United States had sanctioned numerous senior IRGC commanders, companies affiliated with this organization, and the Quds Force, the extraterritorial branch of the IRGC, but now the entirety of this organization is considered a terrorist group, and its members and collaborators will be treated as accomplices in terrorist activities.

Brian Hook said that since its establishment, the IRGC has prioritized threatening U.S. soldiers and endangering their security.

Hook accused the Islamic Republic regime of being responsible for training terrorist groups in the region and added that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps implements these policies in the region.

During Nowruz 1397 (2019), Donald Trump issued a message to the Iranian people in which, while congratulating the new year, he harshly criticized the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and called it a “hostile force” that, according to him, suppresses the Iranian people and plunders their assets to support terrorism outside the borders.

The U.S. State Department has so far placed approximately 60 groups and organizations from various countries on its blacklist of “Foreign Terrorist Organizations,” including the Al-Qaeda network, the Islamic State group (ISIS), Hezbollah of Lebanon, and some Palestinian groups such as Hamas.

Threat to U.S. Bases in the Region

Iranian officials and military commanders of this country have, in recent years, whenever the possibility of placing the IRGC on the terrorist groups list has been raised, begun threatening the United States with “reciprocal action.” These threats have been repeated in recent days as well.

When in June 2017, the discussion of declaring the IRGC as terrorist and sanctioning it in the U.S. Senate was raised, the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened that if Washington intended to sanction this organization, it should withdraw its bases to a distance of one thousand kilometers from Iran.

A few months later, Jafari also said: “If the scattered reports about the stupidity of the U.S. government regarding considering the IRGC as a terrorist group are true, the IRGC will also consider the U.S. military as equivalent to ISIS throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East.”

The Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC, one day before the official announcement of the designation of the IRGC as terrorist by the United States, called this action “stupidity” and said: “Under such circumstances, the U.S. military and security forces in Western Asia will not enjoy today’s tranquility.”

Falahatzadeh announced on Sunday the preparation of an emergency bill for “reciprocal action” against the United States and told ISNA news agency: “Given that the United States wants to place the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the list of terrorist groups, we have prepared an emergency bill so that as soon as this happens, we will designate U.S. military forces alongside “ISIS” on the list of terrorist groups.”

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps plays the role of a parallel state in Iran, and its role has even been criticized by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hassan Rouhani, former and current presidents.

According to some estimates, the IRGC controls a very large portion of Iran’s economy. IRGC-affiliated companies are the largest contractors for major projects in all sectors and hold a large volume of petrochemical exports and imports of goods.

With the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps placed on the U.S. terrorist groups list, the assets of officials and companies affiliated with this organization outside Iran are frozen, and IRGC members will face new restrictions and serious dangers in international travel.

Source: DW