US move against IRGC, invitation to confrontation: Pak ex-envoy

Islamabad, April 9, IRNA -- Former Pakistani ambassador to Iran strongly condemned the US decision to blacklist Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and said that it is an invitation to confrontation which is not good for the regional peace. In an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Asif Ali Khan Durrani termed the US decision as unfortunate. “Declaring a government organization as terrorist organization is an invitation to confrontation, so the US right now is in a confrontation mood but this doesn’t suit the region and doesn’t suit for the peace,” said the analyst. On Monday, Trump administration designated Iran’s IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. In retaliation Iran declared US Central Command called CENTCOM as terrorist group. Asif Ali Khan Durrani added for the years the US has been raising pressures against Iran gradually which in any case have not given the desired results which the US intended to do or intended to achieve. He noted that the IRGC is a state organization it is the security agency of Islamic Republic of Iran and US has no right to declare a government agency of Iran as terrorist organization. “It is the state of Iran which controls the IRGC and the IRGC itself a disciplined organization and it has played a role in Iraq and Syria in fighting Daesh which even the US officials have been praising in the past,” the analyst pointed out. The former ambassador went on to say that this action contradicts what the US officials have been doing in the past by praising the performance of the IRGC. Asif Ali Khan further noted that Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has described the US move against IRGC as strategic error articulated what his government’s policy on the issue. The expert on international affairs was of the view that this decision would further destabilize the region. Follow us on Twitter @IrnaEnglish