Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has on Tuesday inked two bills into law declaring all the United States armed forces based in the Middle East as “terrorists”, calling President Donald Trump government as a sponsor of terrorism.
According to Reuters news reports, the bill was earlier passed in last week by parliament in retaliation to the US president’s last month declaration of Iranian Revolutionary Guards as an international terrorist organization.
However, it was still unclear what the impact of the new Iranian law might have on the US forces and their Middle East operations. The US has already blacklisted many of people and entities for affiliations with the IRCG.
According to Iranian state media reports, Rouhani ordered the ministry of foreign affairs, the Iranian supreme national security council, the armed forces and the ministry of intelligence to implement this fresh law.
The law labels the US Central Command (CENTCOM) as a terrorist outfit, specifically, which is responsible for American military operations in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
“These two forces (Guards and CENTCOM) that are designated as terrorist groups reciprocally might confront (each other) in the Persian Gulf or any other region. The United States will surely be responsible for such a situation,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA on Tuesday.
The IRCG has reiterated its claim that American aircraft carrier in the Gulf and American military bases in the Middle East are under the Iranian missiles’ range.