Donald Trump names Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group
- The Pentagon and other intelligence services have expressed concern that the move could limit the gathering of information to protect US interests in the region
US President Donald Trump on Monday announced the United States is designating Iran’s military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, a terrorist organisation.
Trump said in a statement the “unprecedented” move “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”.
The move has been seen as unprecedented and could have widespread implications for US personnel and policy in the Middle East and elsewhere.
It is the first such designation by any American administration of an entire foreign government entity, although portions of the Guard, notably its elite Quds Force, have been targeted previously by the US.
Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, seemed to anticipate the designation, saying in a tweet on Sunday aimed at President Donald Trump that Trump “should know better than to be conned into another US disaster”.
