U.S. media are reporting that the United States will soon designate Iran's hard-line Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) a foreign terrorist organization, which would be the first time Washington has given that label to the military unit of another country. The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, citing U.S. officials, reported on April 5 that that Washington could add the IRGC on its Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) list as early as April 8. The United States has designated the IRGC’s external branch -- the Quds Force -- and a number of individuals and entities associated with the organization as terrorist, but not the IRGC as a whole. The IRGC’s powerful Quds Force, which conducts foreign operations in the Middle East, has arranged weapons deliveries and advised pro-Iranian militias in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and elsewhere. Saudi security services said Qassem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC Quds Force, was on the list together with Quds Force officers Hamed Abdollahi and Abdul Reza Shahlai.

Source: Wall Street Journal April 06, 2019 10:18 UTC