A senior commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has blasted the United States for blacklisting the elite Iranian military force as a foolish decision. RNA - Brigadier General Hossein Salami said on Saturday that the US itself was a main sponsor of terrorism and has always supported tortures around the world despite laying claims on democracy.
Salami, the second-in-command of the IRGC, made the remarks while visiting the flooded regions in southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan where the Iranian military forces have been assisting the locals in affected towns and villages.
His comments came several days after the White House announced its plans for designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity, a first time the US blacklists a military force of another country.
The move has sparked global outrage with many countries calling it unreasonable. Critics inside the US have also warned the administration of President Donald Trump about the ramifications of the move for US forces in the Middle East.
Salami said Iran has been a victim of terrorism since the victory of Islamic Revolution in the country in 1979, adding that the designation of the IRGC as terrorist should be viewed as a "foolish decision".
Responding to Trump’s blacklisting of the IRGC, Iran has reciprocated by designating the US Central Command (CENTCOM), the portion of the US military responsible for protecting American security interests in the Middle East and the Horn of Africa, as a terrorist organization.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic has also vowed that it would “spare no effort” in fighting the “terrorist” American forces operating in West Asia region.
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