Iran says in case of any clashes between the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and that of the US Navy’s central command in the Persian Gulf, US is to be blamed.
In an address to the Institute of Strategic Thinking (SDE) Ankara, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs, Sayed Abbas Araqchi said IRGC and CENTCOM may engage both in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere due to the action of the US government which fanned the flames by blacklisting IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.
“The two forces, which have been reciprocally designated as terrorist groups, may engage in clashes in the Persian Gulf or any other region. There is no doubt that the US will be held accountable for such a situation” Araqchi warned.
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CENTCOM designated terrorist in tit-for-tat
In response to US president Donald Trump designating IRGC as a terrorist organization, Iran’s president Hasan Rouhani on Tuesday signed off on the law, recently and overwhelmingly approved by the country’s parliament, which designated the American forces based in West Asia — known as the United States Central Command — as a terrorist organization.
Under the newly singed law, “CENTCOM as well as forces, organizations and bodies under its command, are declared terrorist and providing any assistance — including military, intelligence, financial, technical, educational, administrative and logistical — to these forces in order to counter the IRGC and the Islamic Republic of Iran amounts to collaboration in an act of terror.”
Iran-US tensions flaring up
Tensions have recently escalated to a whole new level between Iran and the US over the later’s designations of Iran’s Army as a terrorist organization and sanctioning the country’s crude oil exports.
After withdrawing from the landmark nuclear agreement dubbed the JCPOA-Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, US is trying to maximize the pressure on the Islamic Republic by putting oppressive sanctions on the country oil exports.
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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently announced that US will not provide any more waivers over the import of Iranian oil and country’s which do trade with Iran will also face sanctions.
In response, Iran threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz if its own oil exports are hindered.
Strait of Hormuz is an important waterway between Iran and UAE, a mere 36 Km at it’s narrowest. It is estimated that above 20 percent of the World’s crude oil passes through the strait every day.