|
Trending Topics
|
Clarity on Iran's Terrorist Aims
(Bloomberg) Eli Lake - For more than 30 years, successive U.S. administrations have called Iran a state sponsor of terrorism. Until now, however, the main organization responsible for founding, funding and training many of these groups has not been placed in the same category as its clients like Hizbullah. On Monday, President Trump upended that precedent and designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization. This is a dramatic escalation with real consequences. The designation will make the IRGC even more financially toxic than it already is, says Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. The threshold is now lower for proving that someone is providing material support to the IRGC. The designation also makes non-Iranians who do business with the IRGC vulnerable to having their U.S. visas revoked. Any future administration that sought to go back into the Iran deal will have to make a determination that the IRGC was out of the terrorism business.