Al Monitor - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced today that the United States would designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “foreign terrorist organization.” The Wall Street Journal reported April 5 that as early as this week President Donald Trump would designate the IRGC as a “foreign terrorist organization,” an unprecedented move against a national armed force.


Iranian officials, as expected, have condemned the move by the United States. One of the first responses came from the commander of the IRGC, Mohammad Ali Jafari. “In case of such stupidity, the army and security forces of America in West Asia will no longer have the calm of today,” Jafari said April 7. When asked what the IRGC would do, Jafari replied, “If the Americans make such a stupid decision and endanger our national security, in accordance with the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will make operational similar countermeasures.”


Ebrahim Raisi, the newly appointed judiciary chief and a rising star in the Islamic Republic, condemned the potential designation and accused the United States of being a supporter of terrorism. “A country that has nothing but arming, guiding and giving refuge to terrorists in its track record is labeling the armed forces of another country terrorist,” Raisi said. He added that such an action “has no political or legal validity,” but asked the Foreign Ministry and the Supreme National Security Council to respond with similar measures.


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