AZUZ: For the first time the United States says part of another nation’s government is a foreign terrorist organization. That other nation is Iran and a part of its government that received the designation is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, this is the second largest part of Iran’s military behind its Army. The IRGC leads or supports Iranian forces in both internal conflicts and international war. And U.S. government officials cited several examples of how the Iranian unit has participated in violence world wide.

MIKE POMPEO: For 40 years, the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guard has actively engaged in terrorism and created, supported and directed other terrorist groups. The IRGC masquerades as a legitimate military organization, but none of us should be fooled. It regularly violates the laws of armed conflict. It plans, organizes and executes terror campaigns all around the world.

AZUZ: The IRGC is also highly influential in Iranian life. The U.S. government says it controls up to half of Iran’s economy by allegedly stealing from the people. In designating it a terrorist group, the U.S. is pressuring Iran by telling international banks and businesses to stop any dealings with this part of Iran’s government.

NICK PATON WALSH: It means that there is significantly more measures the U.S. can take against anybody considered to have given tangible, intangible assistance to the IRGC anywhere in the world. They can be prosecuted on U.S. soil or have proceedings brought against them. So it enormously increasing the toolbox for U.S. prosecutors or defense officials potentially, if they choose to make moves against the IRGC. But I have to say because this never happened before, we don’t really quite know how practically it will be applied. The point is though it’s very hard to talk, we’re hearing from the Trump Administration, against Iran.

AZUZ: The U.S. says it’s been preparing to do this for months, and Iran retaliated yesterday by declaring the United States a state sponsor of terrorism. The Middle Eastern country says it considers American troops operating in the region to be terrorist groups, and that the U.S. government would be responsible for what Iran called the dangerous consequences. This is all according to Iran’s government controlled news agency. We’re not sure how any of this will play out. The U.S. government says its IRGC designation will take effect on Monday.