Iran warned on Monday that Washington’s designation of its
elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization could
endanger peace and stability in the Middle East and beyond, state TV reported, according to Reuters.
Tehran also took retaliatory action by naming the United
States Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organization and the US
government as a sponsor of terror.
“This unwise and illegal measure is a major threat to
regional and international stability and peace... Iran labels the American
regime as a supporter of terrorism,” Iran’s Supreme National Security Council
said in a statement.
US President Donald Trump designated Iran’s Guards a foreign
terrorist organization on Monday — an unprecedented step that will raise
tensions in the Middle East.
Iranian authorities have said the US decision is a great
mistake that will endanger US interests in the region, where Iran is involved
in proxy wars from Syria to Lebanon.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on
Twitter that the move was aimed at securing the re-election of Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
“Another misguided election-eve gift to Netanyahu”, and
another “dangerous US misadventure in the region”, Zarif tweeted.
Iranian Revolutionary Guards commanders have repeatedly said
that US bases in the Middle East and US aircraft carriers in the Gulf are
within range of Iranian missiles.
Iran has threatened to disrupt oil shipments through the
Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf if the United States tries to strangle Tehran’s
economy by halting its oil exports.
