Tehran condemns Saudi Arabia, Bahrain for supporting US' controversial IRGC move

Iran strongly condemns Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for supporting the United States' decision to designate Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

“Some countries in the region are accustomed to blindly agreeing with what their trans-regional bosses say. These countries themselves are the main propagators of the doctrines and ideas of terrorism in the region and the world, and have not missed any opportunity to help and support terrorist groups in recent decades," the spokesman Bahram Qassemi said, as quoted by the MEHR news agency, adding that the stances of the two countries were "awkward and unwise."

Qassemi also accused the two countries of promoting terrorism in the region, adding that their stance on Iran would not divert the world's attention from their own actions.

The statement comes after on Monday, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would recognise IRGS as a foreign terrorist organisation, arguing that Iran was allegedly using it to spread terrorism. The move was welcomed by Saudi Arabia, which cut off its diplomatic ties with Tehran in 2016, and Bahrain, which has repeatedly accused the IRGC of destabilising situation in the region.

IRGC is a branch of Iran's Armed Forces that was founded in 1979 in order to struggle against left-wing opposition groups. Today IRGC has a wide range of responsibilities such as domestic security, overseeing the activities of political, social, and non-governmental organisations, private companies and firms; preventing foreign interference. In addition, it controls Islamic norms of life and morality.

(SPUTNIK)