US Designates Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps a Terrorist Group

US President Donald Trump announced on Monday he was designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization, which will take effect on April 15. It is the first time the United States will formally label the military arm of another country a terrorist group. In response, Iran has designated the US military as a terrorist organization. “US military bases and their military forces in the region will be considered terrorist bases and terrorist forces that will be dealt with and confronted accordingly,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iran’s state TV. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, up for reelection on Tuesday, tweeted in response to the US move: “Thank you, my dear friend, US President Donald Trump… for meeting another of my important requests.” Similarly, Saudi Arabia’s state news agency SPA said the US move “translates the kingdom’s repeated demands to the international community of the necessity of confronting terrorism supported by Iran.” The IRGC, founded after the 1979 Iranian revolution, has amassed great economic and political power in Iranian society.