U.S. declares Iran’s Revolutionary Guard As A Foreign Terrorist Organization

 

As expected, the Trump administration designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a foreign terrorist organization, taking an unprecedented step as it seems to increase pressure on Iran’s regime.

The move seems certain to bring a new level of tension between the two countries, as Iran’s leaders have said they will retaliate in kind if such a step was taken.

According to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency, Iranian lawmakers have prepared legislation that would label the U.S. military as a terrorist group, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

President Trump announced the designation Monday morning, in a shift from the decades in which the U.S. has viewed Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.

President Trump said in a statement that 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.”

With the designation, anyone who deals with the IRGC could run the risk of facing criminal charges, such as aiding or supporting a terrorist group.

Via CBS News and The White House