Parliament's Urgent Proposal to Designate the U.S. Army as a 'Terrorist Organization'

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, announced the preparation of an urgent proposal in Parliament, stating that if the U.S. includes the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in its list of terrorist organizations, Iran will also declare the U.S. Army as a terrorist entity. According to the official news agency IRNA, on Sunday, April 18, he mentioned that 'the U.S. wants to place the IRGC on the list of terrorist groups' and told reporters: 'As soon as this happens from the U.S. side, we will declare its military alongside ISIS as terrorist groups.' Falahatpisheh noted that three main factions in Parliament support this urgent proposal. This senior parliamentarian did not provide details about the proposal and, according to Tasnim news agency, stated that it will be submitted to the presiding board after being signed by representatives. A day earlier, Falahatpisheh had made a similar threat against the U.S. on Twitter. U.S. officials have not yet responded to the statements made by this Iranian parliament member, and the possibility of including the IRGC in the list of terrorist organizations has only been reported by the Wall Street Journal and Reuters. Reuters reported on Friday, citing sources in the U.S. government, that the State Department is likely to officially announce this decision on Monday. However, Reuters noted that the Pentagon, the White House, and the State Department have not provided any comments on this matter. The possibility of the IRGC being listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. was also raised last September by several media outlets, including Politico and the Financial Times; at that time, Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the IRGC, stated: 'If this news is correct, we will consider the U.S. Army on par with ISIS.' Although dozens of individuals and entities associated with the IRGC are currently on the U.S. blacklist, and the U.S. Treasury has imposed sanctions against the IRGC and labeled parts of it as terrorist, the overall military institution of the Islamic Republic has not yet been on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations. The U.S. Treasury designated the IRGC's Quds Force, its overseas branch, as a terrorist organization in 2007 due to 'supporting terrorism.'