FM Zarif Warns:
IRGC Designation Won’t Benefit U.S.
TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif on Saturday praised Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) for providing the highest support to regional countries in their anti-terror fights.
"The entire world admits that the IRGC has rendered the utmost support to neighboring countries in the face of terrorism,” Zarif said on the sidelines of a ceremony held to pay tribute to the Foreign Ministry’s martyred officials.
He pointed to U.S. efforts to impose sanctions on the IRGC and said such attempts have never benefited Washington.
The IRGC has been successfully advising Iraqi and Syrian militaries in their operations against the Daesh terrorist group and other such outfits.
However, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering designating the IRGC as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization.” Senior security officials in the U.S. administration have warned against such a designation, drawing attention to its adverse consequences.
The U.S. has already imposed sanctions on some Iranian individuals and entities that it claims to be linked to the IRGC.
Zarif emphasized that all countries in the region had to cooperate to fight terrorism and that fanning the flames of sectarianism benefited no one.
According to officials familiar with the matter, cited by Reuters, the proposal against Iran’s IRGC has stalled over warnings from defense and intelligence officials that the move could backfire.
"If you do that, there is no way to escalate, and you would foreclose any possibility of talking to the Iranians about anything," the news agency quoted one of the unnamed officials as saying.
Momentum behind a possible presidential order has slowed amid an internal debate that has included concerns it could undermine the fight against Daesh, draw opposition from key allies, torpedo any U.S.-Iran diplomatic prospects, and complicate enforcement of the Iran nuclear deal, U.S. and European sources said.
The proposal has been in the works for weeks, and was originally expected to be rolled out this month. But while the idea remains under consideration, it is unclear when – or even if – an announcement might be forthcoming, Reuters reported.
A decision on the matter was complicated by the Feb. 13 resignation of Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, over disclosures that he discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador before taking office. Flynn was one of the Trump White House's leading Iran hawks, and was spearheading the crafting of a strategy for confronting Tehran.
Even before Flynn's departure, however, officials from the Pentagon and U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies had raised objections to naming the IRGC a terrorist group.
Such a move would be the first time the 1996 Foreign Terrorist Organizations law, which has been applied to militant groups such as Al-Qaeda and Daesh, has been wielded against an entire institution of a foreign government, potentially subjecting it to a wide range of U.S. sanctions.
It likely would complicate the alleged U.S. fight against Daesh in Iraq and Syria, defense and other officials said, also. Militias backed by Iran and advised by IRGC fighters are battling Takfiri groups there.
In addition, said another of the officials, adding the IRGC to the terrorist list would cause friction with U.S. European allies, who in the wake of the 2015 nuclear agreement are trying to rebuild business ties to Iran.
For now, the officials said, the discussion of naming the IRGC a terrorist organization is still in play, but apparently on the back burner. A European security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. counterparts told him the order is on hold.
"The entire world admits that the IRGC has rendered the utmost support to neighboring countries in the face of terrorism,” Zarif said on the sidelines of a ceremony held to pay tribute to the Foreign Ministry’s martyred officials.
He pointed to U.S. efforts to impose sanctions on the IRGC and said such attempts have never benefited Washington.
The IRGC has been successfully advising Iraqi and Syrian militaries in their operations against the Daesh terrorist group and other such outfits.
However, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly considering designating the IRGC as a "Foreign Terrorist Organization.” Senior security officials in the U.S. administration have warned against such a designation, drawing attention to its adverse consequences.
The U.S. has already imposed sanctions on some Iranian individuals and entities that it claims to be linked to the IRGC.
Zarif emphasized that all countries in the region had to cooperate to fight terrorism and that fanning the flames of sectarianism benefited no one.
According to officials familiar with the matter, cited by Reuters, the proposal against Iran’s IRGC has stalled over warnings from defense and intelligence officials that the move could backfire.
"If you do that, there is no way to escalate, and you would foreclose any possibility of talking to the Iranians about anything," the news agency quoted one of the unnamed officials as saying.
Momentum behind a possible presidential order has slowed amid an internal debate that has included concerns it could undermine the fight against Daesh, draw opposition from key allies, torpedo any U.S.-Iran diplomatic prospects, and complicate enforcement of the Iran nuclear deal, U.S. and European sources said.
The proposal has been in the works for weeks, and was originally expected to be rolled out this month. But while the idea remains under consideration, it is unclear when – or even if – an announcement might be forthcoming, Reuters reported.
A decision on the matter was complicated by the Feb. 13 resignation of Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, over disclosures that he discussed U.S. sanctions on Russia with the Russian ambassador before taking office. Flynn was one of the Trump White House's leading Iran hawks, and was spearheading the crafting of a strategy for confronting Tehran.
Even before Flynn's departure, however, officials from the Pentagon and U.S. and foreign intelligence agencies had raised objections to naming the IRGC a terrorist group.
Such a move would be the first time the 1996 Foreign Terrorist Organizations law, which has been applied to militant groups such as Al-Qaeda and Daesh, has been wielded against an entire institution of a foreign government, potentially subjecting it to a wide range of U.S. sanctions.
It likely would complicate the alleged U.S. fight against Daesh in Iraq and Syria, defense and other officials said, also. Militias backed by Iran and advised by IRGC fighters are battling Takfiri groups there.
In addition, said another of the officials, adding the IRGC to the terrorist list would cause friction with U.S. European allies, who in the wake of the 2015 nuclear agreement are trying to rebuild business ties to Iran.
For now, the officials said, the discussion of naming the IRGC a terrorist organization is still in play, but apparently on the back burner. A European security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. counterparts told him the order is on hold.