Iran's Khamenei calls U.S. blacklisting of Guards a 'vicious move'

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the United States had made “a vicious move” in designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which he controls, as a foreign terrorist organization, state TV reported on Tuesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump designated Iran’s Guards a foreign terrorist organization on Monday — an unprecedented step that will raise tensions in the Middle East.

“They wish to plot against our Sepah (the Guards) ... it is in the frontline of confronting enemies of our (1979 Islamic) revolution and has always defended the country ... America has failed to block our advancements,” Khamenei said, addressing a group of Guards.

“In spite of all the pressure in the past 40 years, Americans have failed to do a damn thing and their vicious move will bear no fruit.”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also defended the corps as protectors of Iran, saying in a televised speech that the United States “holds a grudge” against the Guards who have “sacrificed their lives to protect our people, our revolution”.

Comprising an estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navy and air units, the Guards also command the Basij, a religious volunteer paramilitary and control Iran’s missile programs. Its overseas Quds forces have fought Iran’s proxy wars in the region.

The U.S. has already blacklisted dozens of entities and people for affiliations with the Guards, but not the organization as a whole.

Trump’s move comes after relations between Tehran and Washington took a turn for the worse last May, when Trump pulled out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, and reimposed sanctions.

Tehran took retaliatory action by naming the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organization and the U.S. government as a sponsor of terror, and Iranian officials warned the move will endanger U.S. interests in the region, where Iran is involved in proxy wars from Syria to Lebanon.