Iranian Minister Hails IRGC as ‘Glorious Defense Institution’
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami deplored a recent move by the US to blacklist the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) and said the force as ‘a glorious defense institution’ has played a major role in defending the oppressed nations in the region.
Addressing an open session of the parliament in Tehran on Tuesday, Brigadier General Hatami voiced his support for a motion passed by the Iranian lawmakers to back the IRGC against the US government.
“The Iranian MPs and people are aware that the Great Satan’s (US’s) conspiracies against Iran have continued over the past 40 years but we have emerged victorious with the help of God,” he noted.
“Today, the US seeks to infiltrate into the country's defense system by labeling the IRGC as terrorist but this time again it will be defeated,” the minister added.
“The IRGC are a glorious defense institution that has played its role in preserving the country's independence and territorial integrity alongside the Army's fighters and in supporting the oppressed people of the region, and it is natural that the US is angry with this force,” he went on to say.
During an open session of the parliament on Tuesday afternoon, the MPs voted for the generalities of the motion put forward by the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.
The motion was passed by 204 votes to 2 during the open session attended by 207 parliamentarians.
Speaking to the Tasnim News Agency, the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Spokesman Ali Najafi said, “According to one of the items of the motion, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s administration is required to take reciprocal and decisive actions against terrorist acts of the American forces that endanger the interests of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the framework of the Supreme National Security Council's decisions.”
According to another item, the Iranian administration is obliged to protest and take legal action against the illegal decision of the US to label the IRGC as a terrorist organization at international levels through bilateral and multilateral consultations with other countries, he noted.
Last Monday, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington is designating the IRGC a foreign “terrorist organization”, marking the first time the US has formally labeled another country's military a terrorist group.
Responding to the move, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council immediately declared the US as a state sponsor of terrorism and US forces in the region terrorists.
The SNSC said it has put CENTCOM on its terror list as a “reciprocal measure” against the US “illegal and unwise” move.
