US declares Iran force a terrorist group

The US has designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organisation, an unprecedented declaration against a foreign government that may prompt retaliation and make it harder for US diplomats and military officers to work with allies in the region.

It is the first time that the US has designated an entity of another government as a terrorist organisation, placing a group with vast economic resources that answers only to Iran’s supreme leader in the same category as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.

“This unprecedented step, led by the State Department, recognises 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,” said US President Donald Trump.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the designation is intended to increase pressure on Iran, isolating it further and diverting some of the financial resources it uses to fund terrorism and militant activity in West Asia and beyond. But, in addition to the potential for Iranian retaliation, it complicates a delicate balance for US personnel in at least two key countries.

No waivers or exceptions to the sanctions were announced, meaning US troops and diplomats could be barred from contact with Iraqi or Lebanese authorities who interact with Guard officials or surrogates.

The Pentagon and US intelligence agencies had also raised concerns about the impact of the designation if the move did not allow contact with other foreign officials who may have met with or communicated with Guard personnel.

Those concerns have in part dissuaded previous administrations from taking the step, which has been considered for more than a decade.

The designation could also open hundreds of foreign companies and business executives to US travel bans and possible prosecution for sanctions violations.

It blocks any assets that IRGC entities may have in US jurisdictions and bars Americans from any transactions with it. When it takes effect next week, it will allow the US to deny entry to people found to have provided the Guard with “material support” or prosecute them for sanctions violations. That could include European and Asian companies and business people who deal with the Guard’s many affiliates.

“It makes crystal clear the risks of conducting business with, or providing support to, the IRGC,” Trump said. “If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism.”

The IRGC is a paramilitary organisation formed in the wake of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution to defend the government. The force answers only to Iran’s supreme leader, operates independently of the regular military and has vast economic interests across the country.

The US estimates it may control or have a significant influence over up to 50 per cent of the Iranian economy, including non-military sectors like banking and shipping.

The State Department currently designates more than 60 organisations as “foreign terrorist organisations”. But none of them is a state-run military.

Iran immediately responded to the designation with its Supreme National Security Council designating the US Central Command, also known as CENTCOM, and all its forces as terrorist, and labelling the US a “supporter of terrorism”.

The Council denounced the US decision as “illegal and dangerous” and said the US government would be responsible for all “dangerous repercussions” of its decision. It defended the IRGC, which has fought Islamic State fighters, as being a force against terrorism.