US govt names Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a terrorist group

President Donald Trump said on Monday he would name Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, in an unprecedented step that drew Iranian condemnation and raised concerns about retaliatory attacks on US forces.

The action by Trump, who has taken a hard line toward Iran by withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and re-imposing broad economic sanctions, marks the first time the United States has formally labeled another nation’s military a terrorist group.

According to Reuters the US step, which takes effect on April 15, prompted an immediate response from Iran, whose Supreme National Security Council, in turn, designated US military forces as a “terrorist organization,” Iranian state-run TV reported.

“The US military bases and their military forces in the region will be considered terrorist bases and terrorist forces that will be dealt with and confronted accordingly,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iranian state TV, calling the US decision “a major strategic mistake.”

“The IRGC is the Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign,” Trump said in a statement. His administration has long criticized Iran for its influence in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.

Critics of Trump’s decision said it was largely symbolic because US law already carried penalties of up to 20 years in prison for US persons who deal with the IRGC because of its designation under another US sanctions program, the US Specially Designated Global Terrorist list.

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Senior US military commanders share Trump’s concerns about Iran and the IRGC but long opposed the designation due to concern over a potential backlash against US forces in the Middle East and the problems it could create for US partners who have a relationship with Iran, US officials say.

The Pentagon declined to discuss what the US military was doing to protect American troops from any retaliation by the IRGC or Iran-aligned militia in places like Iraq.

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the designation did not mean the US military would start treating the IRGC like al Qaeda, Islamic State or other militants that it can target at will.

The IRGC is in charge of Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs. Tehran has warned that it has missiles with a range of up to 2,000 km (1,242 miles), putting Israel and US military bases in the region within reach.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is up for reelection on Tuesday, warmly welcomed the designation and tweeted “Thank you, my dear friend, U.S. President Donald Trump for meeting another of my important requests.”

Set up after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system, the Guards have great sway in Iran’s political system, controlling swathes of the economy and armed forces.

Their involvement in Iran’s banking and shipping industries could complicate matters with US allies including the European Union. The new designation makes it easier to prosecute EU or other companies or individuals that do business with Iran.

The Iranian currency weakened on Monday, falling to 143,000 rials to the US dollar from Sunday’s rate of 138,000 rials, according to the website Mesghal.com.

The United States has already blacklisted dozens of entities and people for affiliations with the IRGC, but not the organization as a whole.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a strident critic of Iran, has pushed for the change in US policy as part of the Trump administration’s tough posture toward Tehran.

“This designation is a direct response to an outlaw regime and should surprise no one,” Pompeo said.

The State Department said on Monday the IRGC has been engaged in terrorist activity since its inception, including the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia that killed 19 Americans, and a foiled plan to attack the Saudi ambassador to the United States on US soil.