Iran classes Argentina navy, air force as 'terrorist organizations'
In a tit-for-tat move, Iran has said it now considers Argentina's navy and air force as "terrorist organizations." Tehran claimed Buenos Aires is responsible for further consequences.
Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it classified Argentina's navy and air force as "terrorist organizations."
In early April, Argentina designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a "terrorist organization," as US President Donald Trump pressured his allies to do so following the war on Iran.
Tehran's designation came "based on the principle of reciprocity," Iran's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"It is evident that the responsibility for all consequences arising from this matter will lie with the Argentine government," the ministry added, without a mention of Argentina's army.
Iran passed a legislation in 2019 that grants retaliatory measures against states that designate its military as a terrorist group.
Argentina said in April that it had taken action against the IRGC because of its support for the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.
Buenos Aires holds Hezbollah responsible for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center, which killed 85 people.
IRGC was established at the end of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution as an elite armed militia whose role was to protect the then embryonic Shiite clerical regime.
Over the years, it has morphed into a vast economic and political empire. Rather than the elected president, the force answers directly to Iran's supreme leader.
The United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom, along with other countries, classify the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
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