Treasury just sanctioned Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a TERRORIST GROUP….sort of…

Trump authorized the Treasury department to sanction the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp and now they have done so.





https://twitter.com/jonathanvswan/status/918887552576208896

Buzzfeed explains the move in more detail:

President Donald Trump defied world powers on Friday and moved to decertify the Iran nuclear deal – an expression of disapproval that America’s strongest allies warned could eventually unravel the landmark agreement and bring the US closer to another conflict in the Middle East.

But another move Trump is taking on Friday could have a far more sweeping impact on US foreign policy in the Middle East: Labeling the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorists under an obscure Treasury Department designation.

At 1:30 p.m., the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control will designate the IRGC under its 13224 terrorist category, a senior State Department official told BuzzFeed News. In a speech this afternoon, Trump will herald the move, which marks the first time Washington has labeled the military branch of another country as terrorists.

Given the expansive role the IRGC plays in Iranian society, designating the group as a terrorist organization could have an array of political, military and economic ramifications, experts said.

In a briefing to reporters on Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the actions against the IRGC were necessary to curb Iran’s aggressive behavior in the region.

“These will be targeted sanctions against individuals, possible entities that are owned or partially owned by the IRGC that are directly supporting these terrorist activities whether its weapons exports, or weapons components, or cyber activities or its movement of weapons and fighters around,” he said.

“The Treasury secretary’s going to have broad latitude to being able to identify those and impose additional sanctions,” he added.

While this is great news, there is one caveat:



So it sounds like this is a more nuanced way of sanctioning the IRGC without upsetting the current Iran deal that was just decertified today. That’s my guess.


Comment Policy: Please read our comment policy before making a comment. In short, please be respectful of others and do not engage in personal attacks. Otherwise we will revoke your comment privileges.