Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has designated the US forces in West Asia known as CENTCOM as a terrorist organisation in a reciprocal move.
The designation came after a letter by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in which he called on the SNSC Chief President Hassan Rouhani to add the US CENTCOM to Iran’s list of terror groups.
FM Zarif called for the designation given the overt and covert support of US military forces in the region for terrorist groups and their direct involvement in terrorist activities, the Foreign Ministry announced in a statement on Monday.
The foreign minister raised the issue based on the “Law to Counter Human Rights Violations and Adventurous and Terrorist Acts of the US in the Region” earlier ratified by the Iranian parliament, the statement added.
The move came after the United States designated Iran’s IRGC as a foreign terrorist organisation.
Critics have warned that the move could open US military and intelligence officials to similar actions by unfriendly governments. The United States has already blacklisted dozens of entities and people for affiliations with the IRGC, but not the organisation as a whole.