President Donald J. Trump Is Holding the Iranian Regime Accountable for Its Global Campaign of Terrorism

April 8, 2019

"The Iranian regime is the leading state sponsor of terror. It exports dangerous missiles, fuels conflicts across the Middle East, and supports terrorist proxies."
- President Donald J. Trump

INCREASING MAXIMUM PRESSURE: President Donald J. Trump is holding the Iranian regime accountable by targeting the primary entity that carries out its global campaign of terror. 

  • The Administration is designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) to counter Iran’s global campaign of terrorism.
  • The Trump Administration is taking this unprecedented step as part of a broader effort to counter Iran-backed terrorism around the world.
  • The Administration’s action will increase the financial pressure and isolation of Iran and deprive the regime of resources it uses for its terrorist activities.
  • This action puts other governments and the private sector on notice about the nature of the IRGC, which operates front companies and institutions around the world to fund terror.
    • The profits from what appear to be legitimate business deals can end up supporting the Iranian regime’s terrorist agenda.
  • This marks the first time that the United States has designated part of another government as a FTO.
  • The designation underscores that the Iranian regime’s use of terrorism makes it fundamentally different from any other government.

COUNTERING IRAN’S GLOBAL CAMPAIGN OF TERRORISM: The Iranian regime continues to engage in a campaign of terrorism around the world.

  • The Iranian regime employs terrorism as a central tool of its statecraft and uses the IRGC to direct and carry out its global terrorist campaign.
  • The IRGC provides funding, equipment, training, and logistical support to terrorist groups.
  • The IRGC has been directly involved in terrorist plots in numerous countries.
    • In 2011, the IRGC Qods Force plotted a brazen attack on the Saudi Ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C., that was uncovered and thwarted.
    • IRGC Qods Force activity has been uncovered and disrupted in Germany, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Kenya, Bahrain, Turkey, and others.
  • The Iranian regime remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, spending nearly a billion dollars every year to support terrorism.
  • The regime provides funding to a number of terrorist groups, including Hizballah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Kata’ib Hizballah, al-Ashtar Brigades, and others.

PROTECTING AMERICA’S SECURITY: President Trump has taken action to address the full range of the regime’s malign activities and ensure it never obtains a nuclear weapon.

  • President Trump withdrew from the unacceptable Iran deal as it failed to protect America’s national security interests.
  • President Trump reimposed all sanctions lifted under the Iran deal and enacted the toughest sanctions regime ever imposed on Iran.
    • These sanctions help cut off revenues the regime uses to fund terrorism, promote global instability, fund nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and enrich its leaders.
  • The Administration has directed its actions against the Iranian regime—not the Iranian people, who are the regime’s longest suffering victims.