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 by Staff Writers Ankara (AFP) April 9, 2019
Turkey on Tuesday condemned the US move to designate Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards a "terrorist group", saying the decision would create "instability" in the region. Washington's move against the Revolutionary Guards was the first time that the United States has branded part of a foreign government a terrorist group. "These kinds of decisions will pave the way for instability in our region," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara. The decision against the "official army of Iran... was incomprehensible," he said. He also criticised previous "one-sided" American sanctions against Iran and "pressure" on other countries by Washington to adhere to them. The Revolutionary Guards are the ideological arm of the country's military and deeply embedded in Iranian political and economic life. Turkey and Iran have been working to develop pragmatic relations with each other, particularly over the Syria conflict despite being on opposing sides. Tehran supports the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad while Ankara has repeatedly called for his ousting and has provided assistance to opposition fighters. Cavusoglu added Turkey had itself opposed the Revolutionary Guards' actions in Syria. There have been growing tensions with the US and Turkey over multiple issues including American support to a Syrian Kurdish militia viewed as terrorists by Ankara but whom Washington relied on to spearhead the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria. Now the NATO allies are facing further strains and Turkey itself risks US sanctions over the push to buy Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.
Iraq says tried to stop US blacklist of Iran Revolutionary Guard The United States declared the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a "terrorist" group on Monday, prompting Tehran to quickly slap US troops with the same designation. "We tried to stop the American decision. We reached out to all sides, to the US and the Saudis," Abdel Mahdi said during a weekly press conference on Tuesday. He said he had warned Washington and its ally Riyadh that the move would have "negative repercussions in Iraq and in the region", but stopped short of denouncing it. Any escalation, he said, "would make us all losers". The premier has repeatedly said Baghdad would seek good ties with both Tehran and Washington, and the new sanctions have forced it to walk an even tighter rope. They mark the first time Washington has branded part of a foreign government a terrorist group, meaning anyone who deals with the Revolutionary Guard could face US prison. The IRGC was integral during Iraq's years of fighting against the Islamic State group, with the head of its foreign wing Major General Qassem Suleimani coordinating fighting across various Iraqi battlefields. Since the battle against IS ended in late 2017, Suleimani has continued to meet with Iraq's top political brass. Officially, the IRGC has no presence in Iraq, and it remains unclear whether these sanctions impact Iraqi figures, institutions or military groups. Washington reimposed tough sanctions on Tehran's energy and finance industries last year, but granted Iraq several temporary waivers to continue importing Iranian gas and electricity to prop up its frail power sector. At the same time, Iraq and Iran seem to be deepening trade ties, with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani visiting Baghdad in March and Abdel Mahdi returning the visit at the weekend. The premier has also said he is planning trips soon to both Riyadh and Washington, Tehran's main foes.
Iran president says US 'leader of world terrorism' Tehran was quick to retaliate on Monday by declaring US troops "terrorists" following Washington's move, which was welcomed by Iran's regional arch-rivals Israel and Saudi Arabia. It was the first time that Washington has branded part of a foreign government a terrorist group, meaning that anyone who deals with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could face prison in the United States. "Who are you to label revolutionary institutions as terrorists?" an angry Rouhani demanded in a speech broadcast live by state television. Rouhani hailed the Guards for fighting terrorism since their creation in 1979, and accused US forces of having always been involved with terrorist groups or acts of terrorism. "You want to use terrorist groups as tools against the nations of the region... you are the leader of world terrorism. "Who is propagating and encouraging terrorism in today's world? Who wanted to use ISIS (the Islamic State group) as a tool?" Rouhani asked, saying that the US is "hiding" the leaders of the jihadist organisation. The Revolutionary Guards are the ideological arm of the country's military and deeply embedded in Iranian political and economic life. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the Guards on their National Day, saying they were at the "forefront' of defending the country and its interests, according to his official website. He lashed out at US officials, saying: "Their vice and deceit will return boomerang on them, leading the enemies of the Islamic Republic such as (US President Donald) Trump and those around him at the US ruling apparatus to go down the drain." - 'Everything imaginable' - To support his accusations, Rouhani cited the downing of Iran Air Flight 655 in July 1988 by missiles fired from the US naval ship the USS Vincennes. "You have done everything imaginable. Which force was it that shot down our civil airliner in the waters of the Persian Gulf?" he said, adding that it was aimed at intimidating Iran. "You wanted to tell the Iranian nation that we do not have any red lines, you wanted to say that we also kill children, you wanted to say that we also kill women," Rouhani said, concluding that the US was transmitting "a message of terrorism in the whole world." The US move comes on top of Trump's decision last year to pull the United States out of an international deal with Iran that was meant to lift crippling economic sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme. Washington had been encouraged to blacklist the Guards by Trump's allies Saudi Arabia and Israel, which both cheered the declaration. "The US decision (follows) the kingdom's repeated demands to the international community to address the issue of Iranian-backed terrorism," the official Saudi Press Agency quoted a foreign ministry source as saying on Tuesday. The source welcomed the US move as a "practical and serious step" in curbing what the kingdom describes as Iranian meddling in the region. The US decision came hours before an Israeli election in which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a close race for re-election. In a statement, Netanyahu thanked his "dear friend" Trump who he said had responded to a "request of mine". In a statement carried by the Iranian official news agency IRNA, the Supreme National Security Council declared the United States a "state sponsor of terrorism" and its forces in the region "terror groups". Quickly adapting to the decision, the semi-official Fars News Agency, close to ultra-conservatives, described the US casualties in the latest suicide bombing on a military convoy in Afghanistan as "terrorists." In a report on the attack, Fars said Tuesday: "American army terrorists killed in Afghanistan." NATO announced on Monday that a suicide car bomb on a convoy in Iran's eastern neighbour had killed three US troops and a military contractor and wounded three more.
US designates Iran's Revolutionary Guards as terrorist organization Washington (AFP) April 8, 2019 The United States on Monday designated Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization, ramping up already far-reaching efforts to undermine the clerical government in Tehran - which swiftly retaliated by calling US troops terrorists. It is the first time that Washington has branded part of a foreign government a terrorist group, meaning that anyone who deals with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could face prison in the United States. President Donald Trump called the unit - ... read more
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