Iran Labels CIA And US Army ‘Terrorist Organizations’
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran’s parliament on Saturday approved a nonbinding resolution labeling the CIA and the U.S. Army “terrorist organizations,” in apparent response to a Senate resolution seeking to give a similar designation to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“The aggressor U.S. Army and the Central Intelligence Agency are terrorists and also nurture terror,” said a statement by the 215 lawmakers who signed the resolution at an open session of the Iranian parliament. The session was broadcast live on state-run radio.
The resolution, which is seen as a diplomatic offensive against the U.S., urges Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government to treat the two as terrorist organizations. It also paves the way for the resolution to become legislation that—if ratified by the country’s hardline constitutional watchdog—would become law.
The government is expected to wait for U.S. reaction before making its decision. In Washington, the White House declined to comment Saturday.
On Wednesday, the Senate voted 76-22 in favor of a resolution urging the State Department to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization. While the proposal attracted overwhelming bipartisan support, a small group of Democrats said they feared labeling the state-sponsored organization a terrorist group could be interpreted as a congressional authorization of military force in Iran.
The Bush administration had already been considering whether to blacklist an elite unit within the Revolutionary Guard, subjecting part of the vast military operation to financial sanctions.
The U.S. legislative push came a day after Ahmadinejad told world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly that his country would defy attempts to impose new sanctions by “arrogant powers” seeking to curb its nuclear program, accusing them of lying and imposing illegal penalties on his country.
He said the nuclear issue was now “closed” as a political issue and Iran would pursue the monitoring of its nuclear program “through its appropriate legal path,” the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog.
Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have escalated over Washington accusations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and has been supplying Shiite militias in Iraq with deadly weapons used to kill U.S. troops. Iran of course denies both of the allegations.
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
Oh man… does this mean I won’t be able to buy that Iranian car I’ve had my eye on????
September 29th, 2007 at 10:58 amIf there is one thing Iran is good at, it’s blunting political and personal attacks against their country. They hear we are going to call them terrorists so they call us terrorists first. This severely limits the punch of calling Iran terrorists. Also, the situation with the British soldiers. They kept them for a couple weeks, convinced the world it was the British who were at fault, then let them go and it was forgotten.
Iran has a powerful mastery over the media and knows exactly what to do to keep pushing buttons but not to incur the military wrath of the Coalition.
September 29th, 2007 at 10:58 am[…] Pat Dollard […]
September 29th, 2007 at 11:26 amWell, I am of the opinion that if they and the rest of this forsaken planet think we are terrorists, let’s not disappoint them. One bomb. One glass city. A few million less muslims. And a world whose sphincter just puckered from abject terror. It’s a win, win.
September 29th, 2007 at 1:44 pmWow…I’m sure the CIA et al is impressed…not… How about a collective yawwwwwwnnnnnn…?
September 29th, 2007 at 2:37 pmPot calling the kettle black…
September 29th, 2007 at 3:28 pmOh, and there’s Ahmadinejad with the cunning ‘I know you are, but what am I?’ gambit. Perhaps next he’ll shift to the ‘I’m rubber, you’re glue’ defence.
September 29th, 2007 at 10:13 pmIt’s like dealing with a quarlsom 4 year old. “We’re not terrorists, your the terrorists so THERE!”
September 30th, 2007 at 11:43 am