US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced today that the United States would designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “foreign terrorist organization.” The Wall Street Journal reported April 5 that as early as this week President Donald Trump would designate the IRGC as a “foreign terrorist organization,” an unprecedented move against a national armed force.
Iranian officials, as expected, have condemned the move by the United States. One of the first responses came from the commander of the IRGC, Mohammad Ali Jafari. “In case of such stupidity, the army and security forces of America in West Asia will no longer have the calm of today,” Jafari said April 7. When asked what the IRGC would do, Jafari replied, “If the Americans make such a stupid decision and endanger our national security, in accordance with the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will make operational similar countermeasures.”
