We can play tough, too, Iran warns

IRAN PROMISED Monday to give a “crushing” response if the United States designated its elite Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group.

The pledge came a week before President Trump announces a final decision on how he wants to contain the Islamic Republic.

He is expected next Sunday to “decertify” a landmark 2015 international deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program, a step that by itself stops short of pulling out of the agreement but gives Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions.

Trump is also expected to designate Iran’s most powerful security force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, as a terrorist organization, as he rolls out a broader, more hawkish, U.S. strategy on Iran.

“We are hopeful that the United States does not make this strategic mistake,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.

“If they do, Iran’s reaction would be firm, decisive and crushing, and the United States should bear all its consequences,” he said at a news conference.

Individuals and entities associated with the Revolutionary Guards are already on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations, but the organization as a whole is not.

Corps commander Mohammad Ali Jafari said Sunday, “If the news is correct about the stupidity of the American government in considering the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist group, then the Revolutionary Guards will consider the American Army to be like Islamic State all around the world.”

Jafari also said that additional sanctions would end chances for future dialogue with the United States and that the Americans would have to move their regional bases outside the 1,250-mile range of Revolutionary Guards’ missiles.

U.S. sanctions on the Revolutionary Guards could affect conflicts in Iraq and Syria, where Tehran and Washington both support warring parties that oppose the ISIS.

France said Monday it was worried that classifying the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group could exacerbate tensions.