Iran’s Guards are terrorists says Trump

IRAN’S Revolutionary Guard was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the United States yesterday.

It is the first time part of another government has been labelled this way and will increase the pressure on the regime in Teheran. It takes effect next week, allowing US officials to deny entry to anyone linked to the Guard and impose sanctions on firms that do business with them.

Donald Trump said the ‘unprecedented step’ flagged up the Guard as a ‘state sponsor of terrorism’. ‘If you are doing business with the IRG, you will be bankrolling terrorism,’ the US President said.

Formed in the wake of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Guard is a paramilitary organisation charged with defending the government. It operates independently of the regular military and has a stake in up to 50 per cent of the Iranian economy, including banking and shipping.

The State Department has designated more than 60 organisations, including Al Qaeda, Islamic State and Hezbollah, as foreign terrorist groups.

Mr Trump was reported last night to have fired another top official, Randolph Alles, the head of the Secret Service.

On Sunday he dismissed Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen nielsen because she disagreed with him over policing the border with Mexico.