Iran Vows Retaliation to Any US Move Against IRGC

By Staff, Agencies

Iran's envoy to the United Kingdom warned the United States that Tehran will “forcefully retaliate” any moves by the US military against the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC], which was designated as a terrorist organization by US President Donald Trump earlier this week.

Hamid Baeidinejad told CNN’s Christian Amanpour on Thursday that American military forces in the Gulf region were in a volatile situation and it wouldn’t be wise if they decided to take action against the Iranian elite force.

“The reality is the US forces are now in the region, so logically now there are concerns even within the US establishment for naming the IRGC as a terrorist organization because now it can have a very immediate impact over the situation the US forces have in the region,” he said.

Following Trump’s declaration on Monday, Iran 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.

Baeidinejad said the announcement by Trump was only rhetorical and that he did not believe Washington would ever instruct US forces to really confront the IRGC and treat it as a terrorist force.

“If they dare to implement those instructions that the IRGC is a terrorist organization… if they move to counter the IRGC, they would see how forcefully they would be retaliated on the ground,” the Iranian envoy asserted. “So I imagine that these are just rhetoric.”

The US Navy announced that it will not change its rules of engagement in the wake of Trump’s decision.

Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson told the US Naval Institute [USNI] News that while a change of rules of engagement was not likely, he was worried about possible encounters in future following Iran’s reciprocal move.

“Now add the new designations to the context... Both sides will be seen by the other as terrorist organizations outside the bounds of international laws and norms,” Richardson argued.

Aircraft carriers, guided-missile destroyers and amphibious assault ships assigned to the 5th Fleet of the US Navy have been frequenting Gulf waters over the past years.

The IRGC Navy has on several occasions intercepted some of those vessels, warning them to stay away from Iranian territorial waters. The IRGC has also detained several US Marines for crossing the maritime borders.