Iranian President Hassan Rowhani on Thursday hit back at the U.S. in response to its decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist group, saying the Islamic republic “will not be intimidated.”
“The air force, ground forces and the navy have never been as powerful as today,” Rowhani said at an
annual military parade in Tehran, adding that Iran was capable of withstanding “conspiracies between the
U.S. and Israel.’’
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organisation on April
8 in a White House statement that called the corps the Iranian government’s “primary means of directing
and implementing its global terrorist campaign.’’
A week later, the Iranian parliament branded the U.S. a state sponsor of terrorism and designated Centcom,
which oversees U.S. military operations in the Middle East, as a terrorist organisation.
Rowhani has argued that the IRGC has been at the forefront of the fight against terrorism, including against
the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
The IRGC has fought alongside the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Syria since the start of
that country’s conflict in 2011. (dpa/NAN)