Why is the US calling Iran’s Revolutionary Guard ‘terrorists’?
Iran labels Washington’s unprecedented decision against a foreign government institution a ‘mistake’.
Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard is both revered and feared.
The 125,000-strong elite force comprises army, navy and air units. It answers directly to the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and controls major businesses in Iran as well.
However, it has been accused of destabilising the Middle East.
The United States has designated the force as a “terrorist” organisation in an unprecedented move.
Iran responded by calling US troops in the Middle East “terrorists”, and threatened to produce more advanced nuclear centrifuges.
So what is the objective? And what will be the effect of these unprecedented declarations?
Presenter: Martine Dennis
Guests:
Mohammad Marandi – dean of Faculty of World Studies at the University of Tehran
Trita Parsi – professor at Georgetown University
Ellie Geranmayeh – deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa programme and senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations