The step "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," Trump said in a statement that described the IRGC as "the Iranian government's primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign."
Iran warned this weekend that if the US went ahead with the designation, Tehran would retaliate by designating the US military as a terrorist organization in return.
Iranian parliamentarian Seyed Jawad Sadatinejad told Iran's state-run FARS News on Saturday, "if any stupidity is carried out by the Americans, the Islamic Republic of Iran will practice reciprocity and designate the US military, which has killed many innocent people, to the list of terrorist groups." He said Iran could then treat US troops in the region the same way they treated terror groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda, reports FARS News.
The designation will be the first time that the United States has ever named a part of another government as a foreign terrorist organization.
It takes effect on April 15, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters at the State Department Monday.
"This historic step will deprive the world's leading state sponsor of terror the financial means to spread misery and death around the world," Pompeo said. He warned that businesses with a presence in Iran or engaged with its companies will have to take extra steps to ensure they are not violating US sanctions.
Brian Hook, a senior policy adviser to Pompeo, said Monday that the IRGC controls "up to half Iran's economy."
"It is absolutely the case that the IRGC amounts to a significant amount of the Iranian economy through pure kleptocracy," Pompeo said. "Businesses and banks around the world now have a clear duty to ensure that companies with which they conduct transactions are not connected to the IRGC in any material way."
Concerns about troops
Senior officials said the designation decision, formally under the State Department's purview, represents the next step in the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign against Iran, but the move had met with internal resistance because of concerns about American troops in the Middle East.
Defense officials have told CNN that US troops in Syria and Iraq often find themselves operating in close proximity to members of the IRGC.
Last year, CNN reported that Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats cautioned the administration that designating the IRGC could pose dangers to US forces, according to one source familiar with the matter.
Asked about the risks to US troops in the Middle East and particularly in Iraq, Hook told reporters at the State Department that "the decision leading up to this process was a full interagency process that included every member of the NSC. We have taken all measures that are appropriate and prudent in the context of this designation."
He added that "whenever we and other nations call out and expose the regime for what it is, it behaves like a mafia organization increasing its threats. We will not be deterred by their threats."
'Prepared'
Nathan Sales, the State Department's Coordinator for Counterterrorism, said the agency would not discuss details of measures being taken to ensure the safety of US personnel.
"I can assure you that we take force protection very, very seriously. And that is why we have run a robust interagency process to make sure that all interested parties are prepared for whatever the Iranian regime might throw at us," he said, speaking alongside Hook Monday.
Cmdr. Rebecca Rebarich, Pentagon spokeswoman, said Monday that "the Department of Defense is prepared to implement the President and Secretary of State's decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Foreign Terrorist Organization."
"As a matter of policy, we do not discuss adjustments to force protection levels or measures for operational security reasons," Rebarich continued. "As always, DoD has taken prudent measures to ensure the safety of our forces around the world, and maintain our readiness to carry out our missions."
Israeli reaction
The move was warmly welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who thanked Trump in a tweet and appeared to take some credit for the move, which comes a day before Israeli elections.
"Thank you, my dear friend, President of the United States Donald Trump, for your decision to declare Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a terror organization," Netanyahu wrote. "Thank you for responding to another one of my important requests, that serves our interests and the interests of regional countries."
The IRGC designation follows Trump's March 21 announcement that the US would recognize Israeli control of the Golan Heights, a step that counters United Nations resolutions against land being seized by force. Like the President's decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and recognize the city as Israel's capitol, the Golan decision reversed decades of US policy and countered international norms.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/politics/iran-us-irgc-designation/index.html
2019-04-08 16:24:00Z
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