President Donald Trump announced Monday that the US is designating Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a foreign “terrorist organization”, marking the first time Washington has formally labeled another country’s military a “terrorist group”.
Iranian officials have threatened to respond to the move in kind, with legislators reportedly preparing legislation that would label the US military as a “terrorist group”, according to Iran’s state-run media.
The United States has already blacklisted dozens of entities and people for affiliations with the IRGC, but not the organization as a whole.
Trump on Monday confirmed earlier reports that the US was planning the designation, saying the US will continue to increase financial pressure and raise the costs on Iran “for its support of terrorist activity”.
Trump said in a statement that the move “recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a state sponsor of terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft”.
The designation “makes crystal clear the risks of conducting business with, or providing support to, the IRGC”, Trump said. “If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a strident critic of Iran, said the designation would take place in one week.
The designation allows the US to deny entry to people found to have provided the IRGC with material support or prosecute them for sanctions violations. That could include European and Asian companies and businesspeople who deal with the IRGC’s many affiliates.
It will also complicate diplomacy. Without exclusions or waivers to the designation, US troops and diplomats could be barred from contact with Iraqi or Lebanese authorities who interact with IRGC officials or surrogates.
The Pentagon and US intelligence agencies have raised concerns about what impact the designation will have if the move does not allow contact with foreign officials who may have met with or communicated with IRGC personnel.
Those concerns have in part dissuaded previous administrations from taking the step, which has been considered for more than a decade.
On Sunday, Iranian officials cautioned the US against the move, warning it could destabilize the region and draw a tit-for-tat response.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said such a measure was “another US disaster” in the making, and warned of the consequences it could have.
“NetanyahuFirsters who have long agitated for FTO designation of the IRGC fully understand its consequences for US forces in the region,” Zarif wrote on Twitter, referring to supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, Iran’s regional archenemy.
“In fact, they seek to drag US into a quagmire on his behalf. Donald Trump should know better than to be conned into another US disaster,” Zarif added.
