Iran's Parliament Approves Urgent Plan to Label US Military Forces in West Asia as 'Terrorists'

In response to US actions, Iran's parliament approved an urgent plan to 'strengthen the position of the IRGC against the US,' and the commander of the IRGC announced that this organization would become 'more powerful than before' in its defensive and offensive systems. During a public session on Tuesday, April 9, representatives voted 189 in favor, 2 against, and 1 abstention out of 198 present to approve the urgency of the plan, with details to be reviewed in the next session. On Monday, US President Donald Trump placed the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the list of 'foreign terrorist organizations,' stating that the IRGC is 'the main tool of the Iranian government in directing and executing an international terrorism campaign.' In reaction to this action, Iranian parliament members labeled US military forces in the West Asia region as 'terrorists' in their plan. According to this plan, those who assist these forces will be recognized as 'accomplices of terrorism.' The armed forces are required, upon the leader's permission, to take reciprocal and decisive actions against US forces in the region as necessary, according to the single article of the plan. During the session, some representatives shouted 'Death to America.' There was no mention of the enforcement guarantees or implementation methods in the statements of the parliament members and the plan's designers. Previously, parliament members had approved similar plans in response to US actions, with no reports on their implementation. Last year, the Iranian parliament passed a 'law to counter human rights violations and adventurous and terrorist actions by the US in the region' in response to a US Congress resolution intensifying sanctions against Iran. At that time, some experts stated that this law was merely for propaganda and that Iran's reciprocal actions would not pose a threat to US interests. The new resolution was passed while Iran's Supreme National Security Council had declared on Monday, prior to its approval, that the 'US Central Command' in West Asia, known as CENTCOM, and all its affiliated forces are considered a 'terrorist group.' Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran stated that Iranian military forces would treat the US Army 'as terrorists.' Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, described this action as 'cat dancing,' 'malice,' and 'deceit.' On Tuesday, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the IRGC, called the US action 'very laughable' and stated that this organization would become 'more powerful than before' in its defensive and offensive systems. Several other institutions and officials of the Islamic Republic have also issued statements strongly protesting the US action. Meanwhile, Yahya Rahim Safavi, the former commander of the IRGC, stated that this US action was 'influenced by the Israeli lobby,' 'Saudi money,' alongside the influence of Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. Mohammad Kowsari, the deputy commander of the Tharallah Headquarters in Tehran, threatened that 'if the Americans cause problems for even one of the IRGC members, the IRGC will take actions several times greater than such an error, and the main regret will definitely be on the Americans.' On Tuesday, several Iranian parliament members, including Qasem Jasemi and Hossein Ali Haji Deligani, threatened that US forces in the region 'will not have security.' These threats come despite the fact that the IRGC commander had stated on July 19, 2017, that if the KATSA law was implemented, the US must remove its military bases in the region from the range of Iran's missiles, which is 2,000 kilometers. The US Congress passed the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) in 2017, which formed the basis for the IRGC's inclusion in Executive Order 13224. However, despite both the Quds Force and the entire IRGC being placed on the terrorism list by the US Treasury and sanctioned, this is the first time that the US State Department has included the entire IRGC on its list. In related news, Netanyahu stated that labeling the IRGC as terrorists was a positive response from Trump to his request.