ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iranian Kurdish parties have welcomed the United States’ decision to label Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization, saying the move should have been made long ago and urging Europe to follow suit.
The “Iranian oppressed people especially the Kurdish people welcome the designation, since the first place where the regime’s guards’ inhuman and terrorist action [took place] was in [the] Kurdistan region,” stated the Cooperation Centre of Iranian Kurdistan’s Political parties on Thursday.
The Cooperation Centre was formed by five Iranian Kurdish parties opposed to the regime in Tehran in order to better coordinate their activities. The Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran (KDP-I), Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), and Komala are among the members.
On Monday, the United States designated the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization, accusing the force of masquerading as a legitimate military while “actively engaging in terrorism.”
Tehran quickly responded, giving US Central Command (CENTCOM) the same label. Lawmakers attended parliament dressed in IRGC fatigues on Tuesday and President Hassan Rouhani gave a stirring defence of the force, saying it was created to protect Iran from terrorism, has fought against the regime of Saddam Hussein, and was at the forefront of efforts to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS).
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif on Wednesday met with top commanders of the IRGC. “We’ll never forget their sacrifice – nor will we allow outlaw bullies to destroy their legacy by fueling insecurity [and] instability. Nor should the world,” he tweeted.
The Kurdish parties accused the IRGC of killings and kidnappings, and bombing their bases in Iran and the Kurdistan Region, as well as further afield. Pointing to the assassinations of PDKI leaders Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou in Vienna in 1989 and Sadiq Sharafkandi in Berlin in 1992, the Cooperation Centre said the European Union should also have slapped the IRGC with the terror label. The Iranian regime was implicated in both assassinations.
Washington considers Iran the world’s biggest state sponsor of terrorism and has been trying to get global allies on their side.
“Under President [Donald] Trump’s leadership, the United States has been marshaling support across the Arab world to confront the malign influence and violence that’s exported by Iran across the region, and we’ll continue to do that,” Vice President Mike Pence said in a press conference in New York on Thursday.
Reaction to the US designation of the IRGC, however, has fallen along traditional fault lines. Iraq, trying to assert itself as a neutral player in the Middle East, tried to stop Washington, concerned that the move would have “negative ramifications for Iraq and the region,” Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said on Tuesday. Iraq and Iran have close political, economic, military, and religious ties.
Egypt has pulled out of the so-called Arab NATO, according to Reuters. The Middle East Security Alliance (MESA) is a US-backed effort to build an alliance among Sunni Arabs to counter Shiite Iran. Cairo made the decision to withdraw from the group ahead of a Sunday meeting in Riyadh, partly because of concerns it would increase tensions with Iran, sources told Reuters.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry warmly welcomed Egypt’s decision. “Egypt is an important and powerful country both in the Arab and in the Muslim world that can play a key role in creating peace, stability and security in West Asia region,” spokesperson Bahram Qasemi told IRNA on Thursday.
Israeli Prime Minister, who was re-elected on Tuesday in a high-stakes election, thanked Trump “for his great support of Israel,” including designating the IRGC a terror group.
Saudi Arabia also welcomed the US decision.
France’s Foreign Ministry warned against any move that could escalate tensions in the Middle East.