US to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist group: Reports

US to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist group: Reports

Washington: The Trump administration is expected to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization as early as next week, according to a US official.

The Trump administration is going to designate the IRGC as a terrorist group as soon as Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday citing US officials.

Many media houses reported that the action could come as early as April 8.

Last year, CNN had reported that Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats cautioned the administration that designating the IRGC could pose dangers to US forces, according to one source familiar with the matter.

“Under the cover of the Syrian war, the IRGC is now trying to plant military roots in Syria and establish a new strategic base to threaten Syria’s neighbors such as Israel,” Brian Hook, the State Department’s special representative for Iran, told reporters Tuesday.

“In Iraq, I can announce today, based on declassified US military reports, that Iran is responsible for the deaths of at least 608 American service members. This accounts for 17 percent of all deaths of US personnel in Iraq from 2003 to 2011. This death toll is in addition to the many thousands of Iraqis killed by the IRGC’s proxies,” he added.

Saudi security services said Qassem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC Quds Force, was on the list together with Quds Force officers Hamed Abdollahi and Abdul Reza Shahlai.

In 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on the three amid allegations that Soleimani, Abdollahi, and Shahlai were linked to a failed plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s former ambassador to the United States, Adel Al-Jubeir.

 

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