U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration may designate Iran’s hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization, Reuters has learned from U.S. officials speaking on conditional of anonymity.
Iran uses the IRGC, believed to be operating in the Western Hemisphere, to engage in “malign activity,” according to the U.S. military.
The IRGC has been linked to deaths of American service members and its activities in Latin America are considered to pose a direct threat to the United States.
Currently, the Trump administration “is considering a proposal that could lead to potentially designating Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization,” reports Reuters, adding that “the officials said several U.S. government agencies have been consulted about such a proposal, which if implemented would add to measures the United States has already imposed on individuals and entities linked to the IRGC.”
Reuters acknowledges that it has not seen a copy of the proposal, noting that the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. has already blacklisted several entities and people affiliated with the IRGC, including the notorious Brig. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC’s elite Qods Force, charged Iranian operations abroad.
In 2007, the U.S. Treasury deemed the Qods Force to be affiliated with terrorist groups, including Hezbollah, the Taliban, and the Palestinian group Hamas, among others.
The Treasury has described the IRGC-Qods Force as Iran’s “primary arm for executing its policy of supporting terrorist and insurgent groups.”
IRGC officers answer directly to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose power far exceeds that of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Iran’s narco-terrorist proxy Hezbollah, along with the IRGC, have provided the on-the-ground support needed for the proliferation of Iran’s Khomeinist ideology across the Middle East and beyond.
In March 2015, now retired Gen. Lloyd Austin, then-chief of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), warned that Iran uses the IRGC and Hezbollah to “engage in malignant activity.”
Breitbart News learned from the U.S. military that the IRGC and Hezbollah are operating so-called cultural centers across Latin America that are being used to recruit Muslim converts and other residents.
The IRGC is believed to be operating as close as Mexico where it was linked to a plot to hire a Mexican cartel member to kill the ambassador of Iran’s regional rival Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C.
During a speech delivered behind closed doors, former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton warned that Iran has the ability to terrorize the United States through IRGC operatives in the Western Hemisphere.
The IRGC has threatened to “drown” U.S. warships in the Persian Gulf.
In January 2016, IRGC vessels captured and humiliated 10 U.S. Navy sailors after their two ships drifted into Iranian waters. Iran ended up releasing the American sailors the following day.
“The IRGC is by far Iran’s most powerful security entity, which also has control over large stakes in Iran’s economy and huge influence in its political system,” points out Reuters.
IRGC officers are currently fighting on behalf of the Russian-backed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Last week, the Trump administration imposed additional sanctions on Iran in response to the Islamic Republic’s recent ballistic missile tests. The administration described the measures as an “initial step.”
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