Iran has designated Argentina’s navy and air force as “terrorist organizations”, its Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, 11 November, in a reciprocal move after Buenos Aires labelled Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist entity.

Tehran said the step was taken “based on the principle of reciprocity”, following Argentina’s decision earlier this year to designate the Revolutionary Guards, known as the IRGC, as a terrorist organisation.

What Tehran announced

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said it considered the Argentine air force and navy to be terrorist organisations under Iranian law. The ministry added that “it is evident that the responsibility for all consequences arising from this matter will lie with the Argentine government”, without elaborating on what those consequences might be.

The statement made no mention of Argentina’s army, naming only the navy and the air force. The designation is a legal and political countermeasure taken under a 2019 Iranian law adopted after the United States designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.

Why Argentina acted first

Argentina designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation in April, adding it to its public register of persons and entities linked to acts of terrorism and their financing. The move followed a push from the administration of US President Donald Trump for allies to take the same step.

Buenos Aires said at the time that the measure was due to the IRGC’s backing for Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which Argentina blames for the deadliest bombing in the country’s history — the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish community centre in the Argentine capital, which killed 85 people and injured hundreds.

The IRGC is an elite military force that protects Shi’ite Muslim clerical rule in Iran and controls large parts of the Iranian economy.

A pattern of reciprocal designations

The move against Argentina follows a similar step by Tehran earlier this month. On 1 November, Iran designated Britain’s Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as terrorist organisations and classified the MI6 intelligence service as a hostile group, in response to British measures against the IRGC and London’s support for the United States and Israel during the war with Iran.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has not said what the designations mean in practice for the Argentine armed forces. No practical enforcement measures, sanctions, or restrictions on Argentine personnel or vessels were set out in the statement reported on Wednesday.

The designation adds a new diplomatic strain to relations between Tehran and Buenos Aires, which have been tense for decades over the AMIA bombing. Argentina has long accused Iran of involvement in the attack, a charge Tehran has denied.

Source: Reuters