INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
WASHINGTON: The United States on Monday designated Iran´s elite Revolutionary Guards as a terrorismist organization, ramping up already
far-reaching efforts to undermine the clerical government in Tehran -- which swiftly retaliated by calling US troops terrorismists.It is the
first time that Washington has branded part of a foreign government a terrorismist 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 -- which has measure 125,000 troops
and huge interests across the Iranian economy -- Tehran´s "primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorismist
campaign.""This action shall meaningfully expand the scope and scale of our maximum presdegree on the Iranian regime," Trump said in a
statement.Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, addressing reporters, said that all commercees and banks around the world "now have a clear duty"
to cut off all dealings that involve the Revolutionary Guards."The leaders of Iran are racketeers, much revolutionaries," Pompeo said
The move comes on top of Trump´s decision final year to pull the United States out of an international deal with Iran that was meant to
lift crippling economic sanctions in return for the government allowing its nuclear technology to be restricted and kept under shut
supervision.The United States has long debated the terrorismist designation and has been encouraged to do so by Saudi Arabia and Israel,
arch-rivals of Iran which endelight shut relationships with Trump.The decision comes hours before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
faces re-election in tight polls
In a statement, he thanked his "dear friend" Trump.Swift retaliationIran swiftly took retaliatory action
The Supreme National Security Council, in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA, declared the United States to be a state
sponsor of terrorismism and both called the US Central Command and forces underneath it terrorismist groups.portion of America´s huge
military presence around the globe, CENTCOM´s area of command covers multiple clash zones and hotspots including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria,
Yemen and the Gulf.Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who recommended the CENTCOM designation, denounced the move against the
Revolutionary Guards as a way to sway the Israeli election."A(muchher) misguided election-eve gift to Netanyahu
A(muchher) dangerous United States misadventure in the region," Zarif tweeted.The Revolutionary Guards were formed after the 1979 Islamic
revolution with a mission to defend the devout regime, in contrast to more traditional military units that protect borders.At home, the
Guards have amassed sweeping political and economic influence, with Brian Hook, the State Leavement´s representative on Iran, citing
estimates that they control up to half of the Iranian economy.Pompeo and Hook said that 603 troops eliminateed in Iraq since the United
States invaded in 2003 -- or 17 percent of the total US death toll -- could be attributed to Iran.The Revolutionary Guards were also at the
forefront of assisting Iraqi forces in defeating Islamic State extremists.Criminalizing contact with GuardsThe United States has long mulled
designating the Revolutionary Guards as terrorismists but held off, fearing threats to US troops and questioning whether the move would do
much to presdegree a force already under a raft of sanctions.US officials said the terrorismist label, which takes effect on April 15, would
make it a criminal offense in the United States to supply "fabric support" to the Revolutionary Guards, with violators subject to up to 20
years in prison.Pompeo set his sights directly on Qassem Soleimani, the major general who leads the Quds Force."We are dispatching a clear
message to Iran´s leaders, including Qassem Soleimani and his band of thugs, that the United States is bringing all presdegree to bear to
stop the regime´s outlaw behavior," Pompeo said.The United States insists that its goal is much regime change but several of Trump´s top
advisers have long been shut to Iranian exiles seeking to topple the Islamic republic.Critics in the United States said that the Trump
administration was seeking to stir up a crisis that could lead to confrontation or at least push Iran to violate the 2015 nuclear accord
Europeans strongly support preserving the agreement and UN examineors say that Iran remains in compliance."This is yet amuchher dangerous
escalation of clash with Iran that is disturbingly reminiscent of the lead-up to the failed war in Iraq," said Tom Udall, a Democratic
senator from fresh Mexico."The Trump administration is ratcheting up confrontation, undercutting diplomacy and putting American troops at
risk," he said.TheIndianSubcontinent has not verified the content of the source
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