US ‘terrorist’ designation of IRGC doomed to fail: Judiciary chief

Iran's Judiciary chief says a recent decision by the United States to put Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) on its blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations is doomed to fail like all other mischievous acts previously taken by the US against the Islamic Republic.

Ayatollah Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi made the remarks while addressing a meeting of senior judiciary officials in Tehran on Monday.

“A country, which has no other track records but arming, supporting and harboring terrorist groups, considers an official armed force of another country that has always been a pioneer in helping people and defending the Islamic movements, as [a] terrorist [organization],” Raeisi said.

Iran's top judge emphasized that even if implemented, Washington’s new decision will be doomed to fail like all other previous acts of mischief by the United States.

“This measure has no credit either in political or legal terms in the eyes of the world’s governments and nations,” he added.

Raeisi noted that the US administration is a hated government that is responsible for grave crimes in the West Asia region and the rest of the world.

“However, if it really intends to do this, it is incumbent on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Supreme National Security Council to respond in kind, because such a measure will be acceptable for the world’s public opinion, which is well aware of the United States’ bloody backdrop in supporting terrorism,” Iran's Judiciary chief noted.

The administration of US President Donald Trump designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization on Monday through an official statement.

"This designation will be the first time that the United States has ever named a part of another government as a FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization)," Trump said in his statement, adding that "this action will significantly expand the scope and scale of our maximum pressure on the Iranian" government.  

The designation decision, formally under the State Department's purview, was made as part of the White House's increasingly aggressive strategy towards Iran.

The US had already blacklisted dozens of entities and individuals affiliated with the IRGC, but not the entire force.

The chief commander of the IRGC warned on Sunday that the elite force will put reciprocal action against the US forces on its agenda if Washington labels it as a “terrorist organization.”

"If the Americans make such a silly move and endanger our national security, we will implement and put reciprocal measures on our agenda based on the policies of Iran's Islamic establishment," Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said.

EA