A senior Iranian legislator warned Washington against attempts to put the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on the list of terrorist groups, saying that such a measure would put in danger all American forces across the world. RNA - "If the Americans want to declare the IRGC as a terrorist group, we will certainly target all their forces in the region and other parts of the world," Alireza Salimi said, addressing an open session of the parliament in Tehran on Sunday.
He cautioned Washington of Iran's reaction to such a possible move, saying that the parliament and all the Iranian people support the IRGC.
The remarks came after a report by the Wall Street Journal claimed that the US officials plan to designate the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. The move could be announced as early as Monday, April 8, according to WSJ. If carried out, it will mark the first time another country's military has been branded as a terrorist group.
Back in October 2017, IRGC Top Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari provided a tough response to a similar threat by the US to designate the Iranian national military force as a terrorist group.
Downplaying certain US officials' war rhetoric against Iran, he said, "The Americans fear the consequences of war with Iran and know that if such a war starts, they will lose and therefore, they are after hitting a blow to the Islamic Republic through soft war and economic pressure."
Gen. Jafari noted reports coming from Washington that the US president's new strategy entails designation of the IRGC itself as a terrorist organization, and issued a tough warning to Donald Trump, saying, "If reports prove to be true that the stupid US administration intends to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, then the IRGC will also specify the US army as a group (and target) like ISIL in all parts of the world, specially the Middle-East."
According to Fars News Agency, he further noted the US objective behind its growing hostilities towards Iran, saying the US is wrong to think that threatening Iran and imposing new sanctions on the country can force Tehran to sit to the negotiating table on the regional issues.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran intends to solve the regional issues somewhere else other than the negotiating table; (the US should know that) there is (absolutely) nothing and no one to negotiate about or with," the IRGC chief commander stressed.
He said any new US sanctions would ruin the chances for any kind of interaction "forever". "These sanctions accomplish the experience of the nuclear deal for us. An experience that showed that the US makes use of talks as a means of pressure and hostility rather than interaction or problem solving."
"The Americans should know that the Islamic Republic of Iran will use the opportunity provided by the Trump administration's stupid behavior towards the nuclear deal to make a leap in its conventional defense, missile and regional programs," he added.
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