Reports in the international press about the latest Washington-Tehran spat are highly disconcerting. According to the Wall Street Journal, the US will soon designate Iran’s elite Revolutionary Corps (IRGC) a “terrorist organisation”, however no official confirmation has come in from Washington as yet regarding such a change in US policy.
This would be the first time the US would declare another country’s military a “terrorist” organisation. Thus far, a number of organisations and entities have been put on the US blacklist for affiliations with the IRGC. The Revolutionary Corps itself, however, has still been seen as just another military force belonging a potentially hostile country. US Secretary of state Mike Pompeo however, has long been a proponent of such a change in policy.
It is not clear what the Trump administration believes such a move would achieve. Critics have argued that blacklisting the IRGC as a terrorist entity would only destabilize the region further, creating the potential for clashes with US forces in the Middle East. Tehran has already vowed that it will make a “crushing response” against the US if it goes ahead with the designation. Two years ago, an IRGC commander had warned that if the Trump administration went ahead with any such move, the Revolutionary Guards would equate the US Army to Islamic State terrorists in the field. This is a particularly ominous threat for US troops stationed in Iraq, where Shia groups aligned with Iran are stationed in close proximity to American forces. For these reasons, even the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon have expressed their reservations, saying that the blacklisting would increase the risk to US troops without doing much in terms of real pressure on Tehran.
Washington must abandon all notions of labelling the IRGC a terrorist organisation. The Trump administration has already made too many one-sided moves in the Middle East, including pulling out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which undid years of productive diplomacy. It is high time this irresponsible escalation came to an end. *