US tags Iran top terror sponsor
Report says number of worldwide terrorist attacks dropped by 23% last year
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Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, the Trump administration said on Wednesday in an annual report that also highlighted a drop in terrorist attacks worldwide.
The State Department’s annual survey of global terrorism accused Iran of intensifying numerous conflicts and trying to undermine governments throughout the Middle East and beyond. Iran’s “terrorist affiliates and proxies,” the report said, “demonstrated a near-global terrorist reach.”
The number of worldwide terrorist attacks dropped by 23 per cent last year compared to 2016, according to the report, a change largely due to gains against Daesh in Iraq. The number also had declined in 2016 over the previous year.
The 23 per cent drop in worldwide terrorist attacks in 2017 was attributed mainly to fewer attacks in Iraq, where territory held by Daesh was retaken by government forces. Terrorist attack deaths also fell 27 per cent last year.
The report comes as the Trump administration is toughening its stance against Iran. President Donald Trump withdrew from the landmark nuclear accord with Iran earlier this year and has begun to dismantle sanctions relief granted under the 2015 deal.
Re-imposing sanctions is one part of a larger effort by the US to cut Iran off from funds used to support proxy forces and support other “malign activity” in the region, say US administration officials.
“Iran uses terrorism as a tool of its state craft, it has no reservations about using that tool on any continent,” Ambassador Nathan Sales, the State Department’s coordinator for counterterrorism, said. He cited Iran-linked fund-raising networks in West Africa, weapons caches in South America and operational activity in Europe. The report specifically cited the activities of Iranian General Qassem Sulaimani, the Revolutionary Guard commander who also helped organise Iraqi militias against Daesh.
–Agencies