The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, IRGC, has reacted to reports that the United States might classify his military force as a terrorist organization.
Several news outlets, including Politico and the Financial Times, reported recently that President Donald Trump’s administration was considering putting the IRGC in the list of terrorist organization.
The IRGC news center, Sepah News quoted Mohammad Ali Jafari as saying on Sunday, October 9, that “If reports about the stupidity of the U.S. government to classify IRGC as a terrorist organization are true, then IRGC will consider the U.S. armed forces equivalent to the Islamic State, all over the world and especially in the Middle East”.
Jafari insisted that “new U.S. sanctions will forever destroy any chance of engagement”.
At the same time, the IRGC commander rejected negotiations about Middle East issues and said, “The Islamic Republic intends to solve regional issues elsewhere, rather than at the negotiating table. It has nothing to talk about and no other party to talk to.”
Jafari again repeated his previous threat that if the U.S. imposes sanctions on IRGC, it will have to move all its military bases located within the 2,000 kilometer range of Iranian missiles.
The White House has signaled that president Trump might not certify the nuclear deal in October, as is required every three months by the U.S. Congress.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders told reporters on October 8 that Trump is not just looking at Iran’s commitment to the nuclear deal, but at its behavior in general.
"The president isn't looking at one piece of this. He's looking at all of the bad behavior of Iran", she said, adding, "Not just the nuclear deal as bad behavior, but the ballistic missile testing, destabilizing of the region, Number One state sponsor of terrorism, cyber attacks, illicit nuclear program…"
Classifying IRGC as a terrorist organization would the first time the official military force of a state is considered as terrorist by the U.S.
Currently, the IRGC is sanctioned by the U.S. for its violations of human rights and it ballistic missile program.
