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bne May 2019 Eurasia I 45
September 14, 2001, gives the execu- tive branch broad authority to use force “against those nations, organizations, or persons” that it determines “planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks” on 9/11 “or harbored such organizations or persons.”
Majority-Shia Iran has always pointed out that al Qaeda is a Sunni Muslim ter- ror group and that al Qaeda and some of its affiliates have even conducted numerous terror attacks on Iran, includ- ing a February attack in Iran’s southeast claimed by a Pakistan-based Sunni extremist group that killed at least 27 IRGC soldiers.
However, the Trump administration
is busy attempting to draw a clear
link between Iran and al Qaeda. In its announcement on the FTO designation, the State Department said one reason for the move was that “Iran continues to allow al Qaeda operatives to reside in Iran, where they have been able to move money and fighters to South Asia and Syria”.
Al Qaeda “drum beat”
“What the Trump administration is doing here though is that this seems to be part of a continued drum beat trying to create a narrative of a nexus between Iran and al Qaeda that started well before this FTO designation,” Bridgeman, now a senior fellow at New York University's Center on Law and Security, was cited as saying, adding: "Members of Congress are wise to be going on record rejecting the notion that Iran was implicated in the 9/11 attacks or is an 'associated' or 'successor' force of those who were,"
said Bridgeman, now a senior fellow at New York University's Center on Law and Security. "The argument is both dangerous and disingenuous."
Pompeo told Paul that the connection between Iran and al Qaeda “is very real. ... They have hosted al Qaeda, they
have permitted al Qaeda to transit their country. No doubt, there is a connection between the Islamic Republic of Iran and al Qaeda. Period, full stop."
Since 2012, the State Department’s country terrorism report has stated that Tehran has allowed al Qaeda
“facilitators to operate a core facilitation pipeline” through Iran.
Pompeo also said that the US will pursue Major-General Qassem Soleimani (or Suleimani), leader of the IRGC Quds Force that conducts foreign operations, such as in Iraq and Syria, where it backs certain Shi’ite militias. He did not explain whether that meant a policy of capturing or targeting Soleimani, but
he told Fox News: “He is a terrorist. ... Soleimani has the blood of Americans on his hands, as does the force that he leads, and America is determined ... to reduce the risk that any American will be killed by Qassem Soleimani and his merry band of brothers ever again.”
The FTO designation applied to the IRGC marks the first time the US has ever used the move against an entity
of another country’s government. It is particularly notable because experts
say that on face value it will add little
to efforts made against the IRGC – the Guard, said to be behind businesses that
Kioumars Heydari, head of the regular army’s ground forces, was quoted as say- ing by the semi-official ISNA news agency, in a reference to how Tehran retaliated against Washington’s move by designat- ing the regional United States Central Command (CENTCOM) that covers the Middle East as a terrorist organisation.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, meanwhile, announced on April 14 that Tehran would ask the interna- tional community to take a position on the designation.
“Today ... we will send messages to foreign ministers of all countries to tell them it is necessary for them to express their stances, and to warn them that this unprecedented and dangerous U.S. measure has had and will have conse- quences,” Zarif was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
Zarif said he had also sent letters to United Nations Secretary-General Anto- nio Guterres and the United Nations
“Americans should know that this is a self-inflicted blow, meaning that they are jeopardizing the security of their own troops”
account for a huge amount of Iranian GDP, is already under heavy State and Treasury Department sanctions, includ- ing as a Treasury special globally desig- nated terrorist entity.
Thousands protest across Iran
The step has undoubtedly angered Iran’s leaders and on April 12 thousands of Ira- nians carrying signs reading “I’m a Guard too” and “Down with USA” marched to protest against the designation.
State television showed crowds chanting “What’s America thinking? Iran is full of Guards” after leaving Friday prayers at Tehran University. Similar state-sponsored protests were held across Iran, it said.
“Americans should know that this is a self- inflicted blow, meaning that they are jeop- ardizing the security of their own troops in CENTCOM and across the world,” General
Security Council to protest against “this illegal US measure”.
Iran has to an extent relied on support from major European powers France, Britain and Germany to push back against the aggressive stance taken by the Trump administration to the Islamic Republic. The trio are against the sanc- tions approach at trying to force Iran to change its Middle East policies and last year set up a new mechanism for non- dollar trade with Iran to protect against the US measures.
But in his latest remarks, Zarif complained about the delay in the implementation of the mechanism. He urged Europe to make it operational as quickly as possible, saying: “The Europeans should not believe that the Islamic Republic of Iran will wait for long,” he said.
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