The United States has designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF) as a “supporter of terrorism” under Executive Order 13224, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced at a joint press conference with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
The U.S. also designated the entire IRGC and Irans Ministry of Defence as “proliferators of weapons of mass destruction under Executive Order 13382.
The designations mean that U.S. citizens and organisation will be banned from doing business with the IRGC and IRGC-QF. U.S. authorities will be able to freeze assets belonging to the Revolutionary Guards on U.S. soil.
It is increasingly likely that if you are doing business with Iran you are doing business with the IRGC”, Paulson said, adding that the international community should be weary of conducting business with Tehran.
Irans ambassador to Iraq, Hassan Kazemi Qomi, is a veteran officer of the Revolutionary Guards and was once the IRGCs liaison to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Qods Force, the extra-territorial arm of the IRGC, is tasked with exporting the Islamic revolution to other countries. The force, which is under the command of IRGC Brigadier General Qassem Soleimani, spearheads the Iranian governments extensive clandestine operations in Iraq.
