The U.S. Escalates Even Further Against Iran—To What End?
Updated at 2:35 p.m. ET.
The Trump administration added another layer to its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran when it declared the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a “Foreign Terrorist Organization”—an escalation that exposes to U.S. criminal prosecution anyone supporting the most powerful security services of the Iranian government.
“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,” President Donald Trump said, announcing the decision in a statement Monday morning. “This designation will be the first time that the United States has ever named a part of another government as a FTO.”
The designation goes into effect a week from now. Depending on whom you ask, the step is long-overdue recognition of reality, or a superfluous gesture, or even a provocation that puts U.S. troops at risk.
The Islamic Republic is already subject to a wide array of sanctions, including Treasury Department against the IRGC; its oil exports have plummeted since the Trump administration withdrew from the Iran Iran a state sponsor of terrorism since 1984, a designation that also involves sanctions.
