On Tuesday, members of Iran’s parliament, chanting “Death to America,” passed a bill designating all U.S. forces as “terrorists.” Those forces included all U.S. forces and employees of the Pentagon and affiliated organizations, agents and commanders, as The Daily Mail reported.
The Parliament stated, “Any aid to these forces, including military, intelligence, financial, technical, service or logistical, will be considered as co-operation in a terrorist act.” In addition, the legislators allotted over $220 million to the Quds Force of the Iranian military.
Iran’s chief of police Hossein Ashtari called the United States a “state sponsor of terrorists.”
The Fars News Agency reported, “During the session, a bill previously ratified on April 23, 2019, that designated the US Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organization in retaliation for the designation of the IRGC by the US administration as a terrorist entity was corrected and ‘all members of the Pentagon, the affiliated companies and institutes and commanders and those who ordered for the assassination of Lieutenant General martyr Hajj Qassem Soleimani’ were added to the terrorist list.”
CBS News reported, “A senior U.S. official told CBS News national security correspondent David Martin that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered a direct attack on American interests in retaliation for the airstrike that killed Soleimani, his top military commander and friend.”
A spokesman for the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades. Mohammed Mohyee, said that Hezbollah is waiting to see what Iran will do before they decide how to respond to the airstrike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, calling the airstrike “U.S. folly” and stating, “We are waiting for Iran’s response to the US folly and after that we will decide about the type and volume of our response.”
Last April, President Trump declared Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including its Qods Force, a terrorist entity, stating:
I am formally announcing my Administration’s plan to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its Qods Force, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft. The IRGC is the Iranian government’s primary means of directing and implementing its global terrorist campaign.
This designation will be the first time that the United States has ever named a part of another government as a FTO. It underscores the fact that Iran’s actions are fundamentally different from those of other governments. This action will significantly expand the scope and scale of our maximum pressure on the Iranian regime. It 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.
This action sends a clear message to Tehran that its support for terrorism has serious consequences. We will continue to increase financial pressure and raise the costs on the Iranian regime for its support of terrorist activity until it abandons its malign and outlaw behavior.