US labeling of IRGC meant to cater to Israel

Press TV has interviewed several commentators regarding US President Donald Trump’s recent decision to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as “a foreign terrorist organization.”

Shabbir Hassanally, an activist and Islamic scholar, said on Tuesday that the decision showed “the abject stupidity of the American administration” and the way it embraced Israel.

“This [decision] is only for [the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu clique within the Israeli axis,” he said.

International lawyer Barry Grossman said the move “is just a cynical attempt by the Trump administration to bolster” Netanyahu in the Israeli elections that got underway on Tuesday.

“This was, according to Netanyahu, specifically requested by him of Trump and he (Netanyahu) wasted no time boasting about the fact that he was the one behind this move and that was done at his request,” Grossman said.

Another interviewee, Steven Sahiounie, said, “All the decisions that the Americans make is [sic.] only to support the Israeli occupation.”

Separately, Jason Unruhe, a political commentator, said the US had “very negative feelings” about Iran’s role in fighting Daesh inside Syria, partially through IRGC advisers. So, he said, “this is just an angry reaction to the positive contribution that Iran has made [in Iraq and Syria].”

Meanwhile, David Yaghoubian, a professor of history at the CSU San Bernardino University, said, the decision “clearly will raise the tensions between American military forces and Iranian military forces in the region” but “does not achieve anything for the United States.”