DUBAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Tehran classified the Argentine Navy and Air Force as “terrorist organizations”, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, in a reciprocal measure after Buenos Aires had designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity in April.
Argentina had classified the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran as a terrorist organization, after pressure from the government of U.S. President Donald Trump for its allies to do the same.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday that Tehran considers the Argentine Air Force and Navy to be terrorist organizations “on the basis of reciprocity”.
“It is evident that responsibility for all consequences arising from this issue will rest with the Argentine government,” the ministry added, without giving further details. There was no mention of the Argentine Army.
Argentina said in April that the measure taken against Iran’s IRGC was due to the support it provides to Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, to which Buenos Aires attributes responsibility for the deadliest attack in the history of the South American country: the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish community center in the capital Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and wounded hundreds.
The IRGC is an elite military force that protects the clerical Shiite Muslim regime in Iran and controls a large part of the Iranian economy.
(Reporting by Elwely Elwelly)
