United States Department of State lists Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terror

The United States Department of State has listed the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended. The designation was published in the Federal Register and became effective on 15 April 2019.

According to a media note published by the US Department of State on 8 April 2019, “[t]he IRGC – primarily through its Qods Force – is the primary arm of the Iranian government that carries out and directs Tehran’s dangerous and destabilizing global terrorist campaign. The IRGC provides funding, equipment, training, and logistical support to a broad range of terrorist and militant organizations, totaling approximately one billion dollars annually in assistance”. The media note also mentions that the designation of the IRGC is the “first time that the United States has designated a part of another government as an FTO”.

Further information behind the reasoning of the designation can be found in a fact sheet also issued by the US Department of State on 8 April 2019.

Please follow this link for the full FTO list.

Before the current action, the IRGC had already been listed under several US sanctions programs such as the Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List (“SDN list”) which is maintained by Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury.