U.S. Troops as Terrorists Signed Into Law

Date: 30 April 2019 - 21:56

News ID: ۶۵۴۳۹

TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani signed a bill into law on Tuesday declaring all U.S. forces in the Middle East terrorists and calling the U.S. government a sponsor of terrorism.
The bill was passed by parliament last week in retaliation for President Donald Trump’s decision this month to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) a foreign terrorist organization.
Rouhani instructed the ministry of intelligence, ministry of foreign affairs, the armed forces, and Iran’s Supreme National Security Council to implement the law.
The law specifically labels as a terrorist organization the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
The United States has already blacklisted dozens of entities and people for affiliations with the IRGC, but until Trump’s decision not the organization as a whole.
Comprising an estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navy and air units, the IRGC also command the Basij, a religious volunteer paramilitary force, and control Iran’s ballistic missile programs.
The long-tense relations between Tehran and Washington took a turn for the worse last May when Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, reached before he took office, and reimposed sanctions.
IRGC commanders have repeatedly said that U.S. bases in the Middle East and U.S. aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf are within range of Iranian missiles.
Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Abbas Araqchi said Sunday Iran will give soon an appropriate response to the unlawful behaviors of the United States after making a comprehensive assessment of the present situation.
"By making a comprehensive assessment of the present conditions and without emotional reactions, we will soon adopt an appropriate response to the illegal U.S. actions,” he told a group of Austrian lawmakers in Tehran.
"The United States has violated the UN Security Council resolution 2231 by withdrawing from it, but unfortunately the Security Council or European countries have failed to give an appropriate response to this illegal action,” Araqchi said.
Last week, the Trump administration announced that it would be granting major exemptions to new sanctions on the IRGC.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined the exemptions in notices published in the Federal Register after the U.S. designated the force as a terrorist organization earlier this month.
Pompeo said the waivers are in the interests of U.S. national security.
The U.S. terrorism designation for the IRGC took effect on April 8. It prompted Iranian lawmakers a day later to overwhelmingly approve a bill labeling U.S. forces in the Middle East as terrorist and labeling America a "supporter of terrorism.”
The exemptions mean officials from countries such as Iraq who may have dealings with the IRGC would not necessarily be denied U.S. visas.
The exceptions to U.S. sanctions would also permit foreign executives who do business in Iran, where the IRGC is a major economic force, as well as humanitarian groups working in regions such as northern Syria, Iraq and Yemen, to do so without fear they will automatically trigger U.S. laws on dealing with a foreign terrorist group.
American officials have long said they fear the designation could endanger U.S. forces in places such as Syria or Iraq, where they may operate in close proximity to IRGC-allied groups.
The State Department’s Near Eastern and South and Central Asian bureaus wrote a rare joint memo to Pompeo before the designation expressing concerns about its potential impact, but were reportedly overruled.
The action was also taken over the objections of the Defense and Homeland Security Departments, a congressional aide told Reuters.