US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the commander of the Iranian military Quds force, Major General Qassem Suleimani, is a terrorist and will be viewed through a similar lens as extremists such as ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.
Washington designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organisation on Monday. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain added the group to their terrorism lists in October last year.
“He’s a terrorist. Qassem Suleimani has the blood of Americans on his hands, as do the forces he leads,” Mr Pompeo told US news broadcaster, Fox. “America is determined each time we find an organisation, institution or an individual that has taken the lives of individuals, it is our responsibility to reduce that risk.”
The move to designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity was made as elections take place in Israel, leading to scepticism that the decision was meant to influence local elections more than determine a policy.
Mr Pompeo claimed that the IRGC has killed over 600 American soldiers, saying that “you can’t have peace, you can’t stability, you can’t have security in the Middle East without weakening the Islamic Guard Corp.”
Saudi Arabia welcomed Washington’s decision to designate Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a foreign terrorist organisation, Saudi state news agency, Spa, said on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia has accused Iran of interfering in its internal affairs and aims to destabilise the region. Iran and Saudi Arabia have been fighting proxy wars for years, backing opposing sides in conflicts in Syria and Yemen.
“The US decision translates the Kingdom’s repeated demands to the international community of the necessity of confronting terrorism supported by Iran,” Spa news agency said, citing a foreign ministry source.
The US on Monday designated Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a foreign terrorist entity in an unprecedented step that adds pressure on Iran to further isolate the regime.
Last year, the Trump administration said that the IRGC is not only a state of sponsor of terrorism but that the IRGC participates and promotes terrorism as a tool of Tehran.
Iran denied the accusations and responded by designating American forces in the region as a terrorist organisation.
Washington has taken a hardline stance against Shiite groups in the region under Mr Trump’s reign, having most recently designated Hezbollah as a terrorist entity. Many view Hezbollah as being funded by Iran and a sub-state actor that takes its orders from Tehran directly.
Saudi Arabia, along with Bahrain, added the IRGC to their terrorism lists last year. It is not clear if that makes Qassem Soleimani, the Major General of the forces, a military target of the Gulf states.
Source » thenational