Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that designating the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity will have dire consequences for Washington, adding that he thinks that the White House is not that much senseless to risk the move. RNA - “I do not think that the Americans will be that much out of their mind to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization,” Larijani said in an interview with Al-Jazeera on Sunday.
The top legislator said that if the US takes this step, "Then the US military and the Pentagon will be definitely deemed as terrorist bodies by Iran. The US must further consider the results of such a move."
In a related context, Larijani said that Iran does not rely heavily on oil, and that it has many other possibilities, adding, "It is not rational to think that a country can be overcome in this way."
This came in response to a question on whether Tehran would stand up to US sanctions if it were prevented from exporting its oil.
On the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Larijani stressed that Iran does not want to harm the countries of the region.
A report by the Wall Street Journal on Friday 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.
In response, IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari warned that the US Army will lose its current status of ease and serenity in West Asia if Washington designates the IRGC as a terrorist organization.
“If (the Americans) make such a stupid move, the US Army and American security forces stationed in West Asia (Middle-East) will lose their current status of ease and serenity,” Major General Jafari warned Washington on Sunday.
“If they make a stupid move as such and endanger out national security, a reciprocal move will be placed on our agenda and then put into operation based on the policies of the Establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the General reiterated.
Back in October 2017, Gen. Jafari had also warned Washington against 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."
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.
According to Fars News Agency, 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.
Later in the same month, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned the administration of his US counterpart Donald Trump to avoid the grave mistake of labeling the IRGC as a terrorist group.
"If the US makes the next mistake and adopts a measure against the IRGC, it will be the worst mistake," President Rouhani said, addressing a cabinet meeting in Tehran.
Noting that Washington is mistaken if it considers the IRGC as merely a military body, he said that the IRGC has found its way into the hearts of the Iranian, Iraqi, Kurdish, Syrian, Lebanese and other Muslim nations as it has helped them to get rid of terrorists and defend their lands.
Days earlier, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had also blasted the US for its hostile policies against the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and warned of Tehran's tough response if Washington labeled the IRGC as a terrorist group.
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