TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in a letter to his counterparts all around the world, called every government to adopt a principled, accurate and lawful stance against the United States’ recent measure against part of Iran’s armed forces, the Foreign Ministry reported on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump on April 8 designated the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity.

Zarif condemned the measure and warned long-term and immediate repercussions of the “illegal and provocative” move.

Zarif said that labeling part of an official military force of an independent country which is a UN member and is also a member of international conventions on humanitarian law is a heresy.

Though different countries have different viewpoints on many international issues, the foreign minister said that after the World War II, all the world countries have agreed that any difference, which can endanger international peace and security, can be resolved peacefully within the framework of international law and the UN Charter.

Although the former U.S. administrations had often ignored the accepted international regulations and violated them, the incumbent one is setting dangerous precedents which will eventually devastate the entire global structure, Zarif warned. 

The chief diplomat said the move against the IRGC, spurred by certain ideological elements in the current U.S. administration and a few regimes in the Middle East region, was part of larger efforts to exacerbate tension between Iran and the United States.

He warned that the move would undermine all pathways to the easing of tensions through political solutions, noting it is likely that in the end there would remain no alternative to direct confrontation.

He added that the U.S. administration is trying to associate the IRGC with al-Qaeda as part of a campaign to prepare America’s public opinion for some new adventurism in West Asia.

SP/PA