Playing with Fire: Trump Designates IRGC As “Terrorist”

By Staff- Agencies

The Trump administration is designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign “terrorist” organization, taking an unprecedented step. 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.

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

Trump announced the designation Monday morning.

"This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, 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," Trump claimed in a White House statement. "The IRGC is the Iranian government's primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign."

"If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism," Trump said.

It's the first time the US has declared an element of a foreign government to be a terrorist organization, the Trump administration says.

The White House sees the IRGC as an "active and enthusiastic participant in acts of terror," a senior administration official said, in a background briefing that was held shortly before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was scheduled to discuss the announcement Monday morning.