Cabinet spox:

World indebted to IRGC in fighting terrorism

TEHRAN (defapress) – Cabinet spokesperson Nobakht warned Tue. that Iran would deem in the same front as ISIL terrorists any country which designates the Revolutionary Guard Corps as a ‘terrorist organization’.

News ID: 66272

Date: 10 October 2017 - 13:30

Cabinet Spokesperson Mohammad Bagher Nobakht made the remarks in a briefing session on Tuesday, in reaction to some Western media speculation that US President Donald Trump was expected to label Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization.

IRGC, which is primarily responsible for national security in Iran, is also one of the strongest forces in combating ISIL terrorists in the region.

The media speculations prompted IRGC commander Maj. Gen. Jafari to warn the US government that if they regarded IRGC as a terrorist group, the Guards would also consider the American military all over the world, especially the Middle East, as equal to ISIL.

Following Jafari’s warning, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi supported the IRGC chief’s position, saying Iran’s response would be harsh and crushing if the US were to make the strategic mistake of labeling the Guards a terrorist organization.

"Rouhani administration’s positions toward the IRGC are very clear,” Nobakht said in his briefing session. "The IRGC is an official and revolutionary organization of Iran’s establishment.”

He went on to add, "the world needs to regard the IRGC realistically and confirm the Guards’ effective defense against the attacks of terrorists, especially ISIL.”

Nobakht further called for stability and calm in Iranian markets unaffected by the comments that the US President Trump may make by the end of the week as he would be ready to submit his report on Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal to the Congress.

"We all need to unite against a man who speaks a lot of nonsense,” Nobakht said. "The least that the nuclear deal did for us was that it revealed to the world that Iran is in compliance with its international commitments while the US was isolated. The oath-breaking country is the US. Iran did not suffer any loss, rather it proved its rightfulness to the world.”