President Rouhani signs law blacklisting Pentagon, subsidiaries

Iran’s parliament passed the initial version of the law back in April, which designated the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organization after the US blacklisted the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC).

On Tuesday, the Iranian parliament expanded it to include the Pentagon, in response to US assassination of IRGC Quds Force commander General Qassem Soleimani and his companions in Baghdad.

Gen. Soleimani tops Foreign Policy’s list of global defense & security thinkersMajor General Soleimani, who commands the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), tops Foreign Policy’s 2019 list of Global Thinkers in the defense and security field.

Rouhani signed the amended version, thus making its implementation imperative upon all the country’s related bodies. 

The new version blacklists all staff members of the Pentagon and subsidiary companies and institutions, in addition to those who commanded and perpetrated General Soleimani’s assassination.

All the 233 lawmakers present at an open session of the parliament on Tuesday unanimously adopted the triple-urgency motion.

Iran parliament designates CENTCOM terrorist in response to US blacklisting of IRGCThe Iranian parliament overwhelmingly passes a law, which designates the United States Central Command a terrorist organization in a counter-measure against the US blacklisting of IRGC.

On April 8, US President Trump said he had designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.

The move “makes crystal clear the risks of conducting business with, or providing support to, the IRGC. If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism,” he said. 

The IRGC has been key to the region’s defeat of Takfiri terrorists, who have been reported to be in receipt of foreign support including from the US.

During his decades-long service, Soleimani cultivated a reputation as the Middle East’s most revered anti-terror commander.

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He was assassinated during a US drone strike which also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), as well as eight other Iranian and Iraqi associates. 

The assassination triggered a wave of anger in Iran and Iraq, where several millions of people took to the streets to honor the commanders and call for revenge.