US, Israel irked by IRGC victories, capability

Iran says Washington’s designation of its Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a “foreign terrorist organization” runs counter to international norms, and stems from the US and the Israeli regime’s anger over the elite military force’s power and success in foiling their plots in the region.

Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami made the remarks in a statement released on Tuesday to mark the birth anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam, which is IRGC commemoration Day in Iran.

Hatami praised the IRGC’s “decisive role” in “sensitive and strategic missions,” emphasizing that the force’s “victories and capability have angered and frustrated the US, the Zionist regime and their terrorist stooges.”

He also noted that the US designation flies in the face of international rules and amounts to “confrontation” with the Iranian Constitution, which has tasked the IRGC with safeguarding the 1979 Islamic Revolution and its achievements.

Washington’s move “reveals the depth of [its] failure in the region, its enmity towards the Islamic Revolution and the revolutionary people of Iran as well as its support for Takfiri and terrorist groups,” which have taken a stinging blow from the IRGC.

On Monday, the White House labeled Iran “a State Sponsor of Terrorism” and the IRGC a “foreign terrorist organization,” claiming that the elite Iranian force “actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft.”

Iran swiftly retaliated, with the Supreme National Security Council designating the US government a supporter of terrorism and its West Asia force, known as the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), a terrorist organization.

Larijani slams Trump’s ‘shameless’ move

Separately on Tuesday, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that the “disgraceful” and “shameless” blacklisting exposed Washington’s “idiocy and ignorance” in dealing with the Iranian nation.  

Everyone is aware of the heavy blows the IRGC has dealt to terrorism in the region and of the fact that the force has been standing by the nation since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in confronting terror groups, which rely on the support of big powers.

Larijani further noted that Iran considers “the US government and armed forces as the symbol of international terrorism in military and economic dimensions.”