Iran Guards can treat US forces as terrorists if blacklisted: Parliament body

A key Iranian parliamentary body says the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) reserves the right to treat US military forces as terrorists if Washington blacklists the elite force.

In a Tuesday statement, the Iranian Majlis (parliament) Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy slammed the possible plan by the administration of US President Donald Trump against the IRGC as “idiotic” and “hideous,” noting, “The IRGC is entitled to treat the US forces the same way it treats terrorist groups” in case the reports of such a blacklisting turn out to be true.

In his planned speech on October 15, Trump is expected to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. Moreover, he is reportedly planning to announce that he will not certify the nuclear agreement reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries in 2015.

Trump’s potential plan against the IRGC has already faced international opposition, with Russia and France warning against the ramifications of such a decision.

The statement further said the US and Israel have been enraged over IRGC’s significant role in protecting Iran as well as regional security over the past decades.

“In recent years, the IRGC has played a valuable part in restoring security to Iraq and Syria and fighting terrorist groups, particularly Daesh, which are US lackeys in the world. If it was not for such a role, this strategic region would have faced worrying crises,” it said.

The parliamentary committee said it would support any retaliatory measure by the IRGC against US military forces under the Iranian law on countering US adventurist and terrorist activities in the region.

On Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warned that Tehran will take reciprocal measures against a potential “strategic mistake” by Trump to blacklist the IRGC.

“If American officials make such a strategic mistake, the Islamic Republic of Iran will take a reciprocal measure,” Zarif said, adding, “Some measures have been thought out in this regard and will be taken at the appropriate time.”

The IRGC chief commander, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said on Sunday that Iran would treat US troops like Daesh terrorists if the IRGC was designated as a terrorist organization by the US.

Trump’s efforts to blacklist the IRGC come as the advisors of the Iranian elite force are currently assisting the Iraqi and Syrian forces in their anti-terrorism campaign against Daesh Takfiri militants and other terrorist groups in both countries.

The advisory military missions in Iraq and Syria have both boosted Iran’s geopolitical influence in the region and helped the two terrorism-wracked countries deal heavy blows to terrorist outfits on several fronts.