Russia censures unilateral US sanctions on Iran’s IRGC

EghtesadOnline: Russia has denounced fresh sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), saying they violate international law.

News ID: ۷۸۰۲۵۹

04 November 2017

Asked about the US bans targeting the IRGC, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Tuesday, “Our approach to unilateral sanctions is universal. We consider such practices illegal, contrary to international law and the basic principles of interstate communication.”

The American statesmen, he added, have “turned sanctions into a key tool of their foreign policy.”

During a speech last month, according to PressTV, US President Donald Trump authorized the Treasury Department to impose further sanctions on “the entire” IRGC for what he claimed was “its support for terrorism.”

On October 31, the Treasury released the names of IRGC individuals and bodies on its blacklist.

Senior Iranian officials have censured hostile US measures against the IRGC.

Shortly after Trump’s speech, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani reacted to US measures against the IRGC, saying the nation would stand by the elite force.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also took to Twitter on October 14 and emphasized that Iranian people from all walks of life strongly supported the defenders of the country and the region against terrorism.

Today, Iranians--boys, girls, men, women--are ALL IRGC; standing firm with those who defend us & the region against aggression & terror.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) October 14, 2017

Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri, who is the chief spokesman for Iran’s Armed Forces, also slammed Trump’s speech and said, “The IRGC is today more powerfully disrupting US leaders’ filthy schemes one after another, and on the rest of this path, many things remain unsaid, [but] the Trump administration will see their outward manifestations all in good time.”

The IRGC, a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, has been effectively providing advisory military support for the elected governments of Iraq and Syria in their battles against various groups of extremist militants.

Some of those militant groups receive logistical, financial, and other forms of support from the US government, particularly in Syria, where Washington has attempted but failed to have the Syrian government toppled.