Behind the Headlines/April 23

Jamshid Chalangi:

In tonight’s program once again we will look at why US has designated the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organisation.

The Guards say that they have been involved in reconstruction of Iran after the war with Iraq and are protecting Iran’s borders. We will ask our guests energy expert Reza Taghizadeh and political analyst Houshang Amir Ahmadi if the Revolutionary Guards are what they say they are.

We will also report on the latest news of the flood disaster in Iran.

Reza Taghizadeh:          

We are now approaching the first anniversary of the US departure from the nuclear deal and I believe the decision by Washington to designate the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organisation is in line with that same policy and is very important.

I think this decision and ending the waivers for the sanctions on buying Iran’s oil will in the coming days cause a lot of economic and political chaos within the regime.

However, the naming of the Guards as a terrorist group is also a very dangerous one too as for the first time ever the US has regarded a military force of another country as its foe, something that had previously been done against the Quds Forces of the Guards.

Obviously the US decision makers have done their own political calculations before announcing this decision, which is part of putting additional pressure on the regime, as the Guards are an indispensible part of it.

Houshang Amir Ahamdi:

I agree with Mr Taghizadeh’s comments but we need to get to the bottom of why this designation has happened.

If we look back, we can see that forty years ago the Guards were born out of the Islamic Revolution by the children of our own people.

However, in due course, a new clerical establishment took over the political power of the country and the Guards gradually turned into a force at the service of the clergy and their ideological objectives and against the interests of the Iranian people.

The clerics of Iran haveeffectively misled this force and turned them into their own tools for their illegitimate aims.

Sadly our intellectuals do not see this reality and instead of blaming the US and the clerics of Iran they criticise the Guards.

The main source of problem is the 200 or so people at the top leadership of the regime that includes the supreme leader, the president, the head of judiciary, the intelligence minister and the Friday prayers imams who rule over Iran and are causing chaos and instability in the region and abuse the Guards in the process.

I believe the US has made an error of judgement in naming the Guards as a terrorist organisation.