In a correlative move, the Iranian Supreme National Security Council has denounced the US government a ‘supporter of terrorism’, dubbing the United States Central Command (also CENTCOM) a terrorist organization.
Some Iranian media outlets – which support government policies – have described the three US service members and a contractors recently killed in Bagram Airbase attack, as terrorists.
“Three US army terrorists and a civilian contractor were killed in the explosion of an improvised explosive device near Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan,” Iranian Fars News Agency wrote, according to sources.
Meanwhile, a number of military experts and political analyst warned escalating tensions between the two longtime rivals would have negative impacts on “US interests in Afghanistan”, particularly on country’s fragile security situation.
“Iranians could affect United States interests inside Afghanistan,” said Abdul Qadir Kamil, a political analyst.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps is also blamed for raiding thousands of Afghan refugees next to the Fatemiyoun Brigade to fight Daesh alongside Syrian government forces.
[Earlier: ‘U.S. Dubs Iran Elite Forces a Terrorist Organization’]
IRAN – The United States has designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, effective Monday, the White House said in a statement.
The US President Donald Trump said the move, led by the Department of State, is an “unprecedented step” that “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,” a local media quoted.
“The IRGC is the Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign.” The White House emphasized the action “sends a clear message to Tehran that its support for terrorism has serious consequences,” he added.
· U.S. Slams Iranian Companies, Banks with New Sanctions
· U.S. to Designate IRGC as Terrorist Org.
The Vice President Mike Pence in a tweet Monday said their administration will not spare any attempt to stand tall against any possible threats coming from Iran, and will fight to stop the Islamic nation from producing terrorism around the world.
“… Our Administration is standing FIRM against the Iranian threat & we’ll continue to apply MAXIMUM pressure to stop Iran from exporting terrorism around the globe,” said Pence.
The designation will be the first time the United States has ever named a part of another government as a foreign terrorist organization, according to the White House, and will expand the scope and scale of the administration’s maximum pressure campaign on the Iranian regime.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – which is formed after and order by Ayatollah Khomeini – is a branch of Iran’s Armed Forces founded after the 1979 Revolution.
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