US designates Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as ‘terrorists’

The move marks the first time an element of a foreign state has been officially designated terrorists.

FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2016 file photo, Iran's Revolutionary Guard troops march in a military parade marking the 36th anniversary of Iraq's 1980 invasion of Iran, in front of the shrine of late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran. The Trump administration is preparing to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps a “foreign terrorist organization” in an unprecedented move that could have widespread implications for U.S. personnel and policy. U.S. Officials say an announcement could come as early as Monday, April 8, 2019, following a months-long escalation in the administration’s rhetoric against Iran. The move would be the first such designation by any U.S. administration of an entire foreign government entity. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

The Trump administration escalated a pressure campaign against Iran on Monday by designating the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, the first time an element of a foreign state has been officially named a terrorist entity.

“This action will significantly expand the scope and scale of our maximum pressure on the Iranian regime,” President Trump said in a statement Monday. “If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism.”

The designation aims to squeeze the IRGC’s financial resources and shrink its military presence in the Middle East, helping the US crack down on businesses in Europe and elsewhere controlled by the organization.

The designation also allows the US to subject IRGC officials and those who provide support to the organization to travel restrictions and lets US prosecutors bring charges against those who provide “material support” to the IRGC.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said a US goal is to increase pressure on Iran to meet the 12 demands the US listed in May last year, when the president said the US would withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.

“We want Iran to behave like a normal nation,” Mr Pompeo said. “That’s the mission of this designation as well.”

Iran retaliated against the US move by designating the US Central Command, which is responsible for military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, as a terrorist group.

“Any unusual move by them will be assessed as the behavior of a terrorist group, and dealt with by a reciprocal move,” said a spokesman for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, which made the terror designation on Monday.

The rising tensions come as the two countries each have forces or interests in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

US officials had been divided over the move to designate the IRGC, with White House national security adviser John Bolton and Mr Pompeo in favor of it and Pentagon officials including Marine Gen. Joe Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cautioning against it out of concern for a backlash against US forces, according to US officials.

A senior administration official, asked about the divisions during a press briefing Monday, declined to comment on internal deliberations, but said the administration had “followed a robust interagency process.”

Plans to designate the IRGC a terrorist organization, reported by The Wall Street Journal on Friday, had already escalated tensions with Tehran. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the move would lead to disaster for US forces in the Middle East and charged it was intended to benefit Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has a close relationship with the Trump administration and is seeking reelection on Tuesday.

“If the Americans do such stupidity and put our national security at risk, the US Army and security forces in the West Asia region will not enjoy today’s peace,” said the IRGC commander, Mohammad Ali Jafari, according to the IRGC’s news outlet.

Another senior administration official, asked on Monday about Iranian comments, said: “I think it’s a little rich that the senior leadership of the Iranian regime would be running around accusing others of terrorist acts when theirs are so well documented.”

US Central Command issued an alert to its troops Monday about the designation and the potential increased risk posed to them, a defense official said.

Military officials said the designation didn’t change rules of engagement for US troops in the region, particularly Syria, where the IRGC has forces in proximity to American personnel. It was unclear whether the designation would allow military commanders to communicate with Iranian forces on matters of deconfliction, as US forces do with Russian counterparts.

The IRGC has a ground force of 100,000 for national defense and runs Tehran’s ballistic-missile programs, according to a study by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.

The Quds Force, a specialized division of the IRGC, has arranged weapons deliveries and advised pro-regime militias in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

The Guard Corps has been involved in Iran’s nuclear program and has played a role in cracking down on dissent in Iran, while also playing an important role in the Iranian economy. As CIA director in 2017, Mr Pompeo said companies overseen by the IRGC might control 20% of the nation’s economy, including important sectors such as energy.

Mr Pompeo said that the terrorist designation expanded the risk for companies wanting to do business with Iran, saying that the IRGC is enmeshed in legitimate businesses as well as illegitimate areas of the economy.

Companies will have to increase their efforts to scrutinize their ties to avoid running afoul of US sanctions, Mr Pompeo said. “This will require more diligence to be done,” he said. The designation will take effect on April 15, he said.

Mr Pompeo said it was too early to say how the designation would affect countries that consume Iranian oil. In November, the US granted waivers to eight countries including China, India, Japan and Turkey, allowing them to continue purchasing from Iran despite US sanctions.

“We’ll make that decision in due course,” Mr Pompeo said of the waivers.

One objective of the designation is to “render the IRGC radioactive,” said Nathan Sales, the State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism. “All businesses, foreign officials who are thinking about engaging with the IRGC should think long and hard about whether that makes sense,” he said.

Mr Sales said that engaging with the IRGC would be considered a federal criminal offense, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The Wall St Journal