Iran has designated Argentina’s navy and air force as “terrorist organisations”, its Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, in a reciprocal move after Buenos Aires blacklisted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps earlier this year.
The ministry said Tehran considered the two Argentine services terrorist organisations “based on the principle of reciprocity”, and warned that “the responsibility for all consequences arising from this matter will lie with the Argentine government”. It made no mention of Argentina’s army.
Argentina designated the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation in April, following a push by the administration of US President Donald Trump for allies to take the same step. Buenos Aires said at the time that the move was prompted by the Guards’ backing for Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based group it blames for the deadliest bombing in the South American country’s history: the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish community centre in the Argentine capital, which killed 85 people and injured hundreds.
Iran’s designation rests on a 2019 law adopted after the United States first designated the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organisation. The law provides for reciprocal measures against any country that follows Washington’s lead, and Tehran has now applied it to Argentina’s navy and air force.
The Revolutionary Guards are an elite military force charged with protecting Shi’ite Muslim clerical rule in Iran, and they control large parts of the Iranian economy. The designation of Argentina’s armed services carries no practical measures spelled out in the ministry’s statement, and it was not immediately clear whether Buenos Aires had responded.
The move comes as the war between the United States and Iran enters its ninth month, with Tehran holding firm in its refusal to allow enriched uranium to leave the country while Washington leans on economic pressure rather than major combat operations.
The account in this article rests on the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s statement as reported by Reuters; no Argentine government response had been reported at the time of writing.
Sources: Reuters — “Iran designates Argentina’s navy and air force as ‘terrorist organizations'”
