Iran Blacklists Argentine Navy, Air Force as Terrorist Entities
TEHRAN -- Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it has designated Argentina’s navy and air force as terrorist organizations, retaliating against Buenos Aires’ decision to blacklist the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).
The ministry said the designation is grounded in the principle of reciprocity and a 2019 Iranian law mandating countermeasures against any state that complies with or supports the U.S. listing of the IRGC.
“The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, acting based on the principle of reciprocity … deems the Argentine Navy and the Argentine Air Force subject to the aforementioned law and its provisions, and designates them as terrorist organizations,” the statement read.
Tehran held Buenos Aires “responsible for all consequences” of its action.
The confrontation traces back to late March, when Argentine President Javier Milei’s office announced it had added the IRGC to the country’s terrorism registry, accusing the force of having a role in the 1994 AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires.
Iran condemned that decision at the time as a “strategic mistake and an unforgivable insult to the Iranian nation,” saying it is adopted “under pressure from the Israeli regime and Washington” and that Milei and his foreign minister had “positioned themselves as partners to the crimes committed” against Iran.
Milei’s alignment with Israel and the United States has been conspicuously personal. In April, he traveled to the Israeli occupied territories for the third time since taking office, meeting terrorist prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Al-Quds.
He has pledged to move Argentina’s embassy to Occupied Al-Quds and launched what he called “Acuerdos de Isaac,” an initiative to extend the Abraham Accords framework to Latin America.