U.S. State Department Annual Report: Iran Remains at the Forefront of State Sponsors of Terrorism

The United States government, in its latest report on terrorism, has once again placed Iran at the top of the list of state sponsors of terrorism. The annual report by the U.S. State Department was published on Wednesday, July 19, and addresses global terrorism in 2016, stating that Iran was ahead of all other state sponsors of terrorism last year. The report claims that Iran continues to strongly support anti-Israeli groups and other proxy groups that have destabilized Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. According to the U.S. State Department, Iran recruits soldiers in Afghanistan and Pakistan to join its supported Shia militia groups in Syria and Iraq, while no change has been observed in its support for the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. Just two days before the release of this report, the U.S. government confirmed Iran's compliance with the Vienna nuclear agreement, but also warned that the country has acted contrary to the spirit of the JCPOA by 'undermining peace and stability in the region.' The annual report emphasizes that threats from Iran against U.S. interests and its allies remain. The report notes the activities of the Quds Force, the overseas branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), stating that Iran employs this force to advance its foreign policy and create a cover for its intelligence operations and destructive actions in the region. The U.S. State Department further accuses Iran of supplying weapons and economic resources to Shia militia groups in Bahrain, continuing terrorist programs in cyberspace, and failing to prosecute senior al-Qaeda officials. The release of this report coincides with the U.S. imposing sanctions on 18 individuals and entities for supporting Iran's ballistic missile activities. In this new list, seven institutions and five individuals have been targeted for supporting Iran's military program or the IRGC. Meanwhile, the commander of the IRGC has warned that if the IRGC is sanctioned, the U.S. must withdraw its regional bases up to a depth of 1,000 kilometers around Iran. The annual report also identifies Sudan and Syria as state sponsors of terrorism. It names the group known as 'Islamic State' or ISIS as the most significant terrorist group in the past two years, responsible for the killing of many civilians in various parts of the world. However, the U.S. State Department states that despite Iran's terrorist activities and groups like ISIS and Boko Haram, the number of terrorist attacks in 2016 decreased by 9% compared to the previous year, and the number of fatalities from these attacks fell from 11,774 to 11,072.