Iranian Majlis Designates U.S. CENTCOM as Terrorist Organization

IRINN TV reported on April 16, 2019 that the Iranian Majlis ratified with an overwhelming majority a bill that would designate the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist organization. Iranian Defense Minister General Amir Hatami said: “American’s deception and sanctions have become ineffective.” He added that 26 rounds of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. pulling out of the JCPOA, and designating the IRGC a terrorist organization “prove that the U.S. sanctions weapon is no longer capable of shooting at the target.” Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini, of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee told IRINN TV: “All the U.S. forces deployed in the region, all their facilities, their bases, and the entire logistic apparatus at their disposal are considered terrorist entities.” He added that all U.S. bases and the personnel in them “should be treated as terror bases.” Mohammad Ali Vakili, a Majlis member, told IRINN TV that this is only the first bill of a group of bills “aimed at confronting the hostile measures of the American government against the Iranian people” and the U.S. should be warned against further steps in the future.

Anchor: In an afternoon session today, the Majlis ratified a bill in response to the U.S. designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

Iranian MP: The voting is over. The bill was ratified in an overwhelming vote.

Members of Majlis: Death to America! Death to America!

General Amir Hatami: America’s deception and sanctions have become ineffective. This caused it to initiate the vicious circle of designating parts of the Iranian regime as terrorists. Twenty six rounds of U.S. sanctions in the past two years, pulling out of the JCPOA, and the conspiracy to designate the IRGC a terrorist organization prove that the U.S. sanctions weapon is no longer capable of shooting at the target.

IRINN Reporter Reza Saffari: This bill has 13 clauses. The first clause states that the forces of the U.S. Central Command – CENTCOM – and all its subordinate organizations are designated as terrorists.

Hossein Naghavi-Hosseini: In other clauses, we define the role of the armed forces in enforcing this law. In keeping with those clauses, all the U.S. forces deployed in the region, all their facilities, their bases, and the entire logistics apparatus at their disposal are considered terrorist entities, and these bases – the people in them included – should be treated as terror bases.

Mohammad Ali Vakili: This bill is not final. It is one of a group of bills aimed at confronting the hostile measures of the America government against the Iranian people. Therefore, the U.S. government should know for certain that today’s bill is the threshold, rather than the ceiling, of our actions. We will introduce more bills, depending on the measures the U.S. government takes.