TEHRAN, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Iranian senior officials on Tuesday unanimously condemned the recent U.S. listing of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) as a "foreign terrorist organization."
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the United States will not succeed in its anti-Iran measures by blacklisting the IRGC.
"The United States and the ignorant enemies of the Islamic republic have failed in their anti-Iran measures over the past 40 years," Khamenei was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
They will never succeed in their "malicious" plots against Iran or the IRGC in the future either, he stressed.
On Tuesday, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani also expressed full support for the IRGC, saying that nobody would endorse such a move by Washington which is itself committing acts of terrorism around the world, according to IRNA.
The IRGC has served greatly to the Iranian nation since the victory of the Islamic revolution in 1979 and is the basic pillar of the Islamic republic, Rouhani said.
"Today, the global arrogance and the United States seek to express their hostility by labeling a group (IRGC) as terrorist, while the IRGC's biggest goal, aspiration, act and devotion have always been fighting against terrorism," said Rouhani.
The United States itself is using terrorist groups against regional nations and is the biggest "sponsor of terrorism" in the world, Rouhani added.
In the meantime, Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said that the U.S. decision on IRGC is "an explicit sign of an old grudge and discloses the stupidity of the U.S. regime," according to IRNA.
The IRGC is "forerunner in the campaigns against terrorist groups, including the Islamic State militants, in the region and has inflicted the harshest blows to the dreadful terrorist groups in the region," he said.
Besides, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described U.S. President Donald Trump's move to blacklist the IRGC as another "misguided" election gift to the Israeli prime minister on the eve of the Israel's election, according to Tasnim news agency.
Iranian Ambassador to Britain Hamid Baeidinejad made the similar comment by saying that the White House's decision is a gift to Netanyahu to assist him in the Israeli upcoming elections.
On Tuesday, The Iranian lawmakers appeared in the IRGC's uniforms at the parliament session to express solidarity with the force amid U.S. "hostile" move, according to Tasnim.
They also chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" in the parliament.
Trump said on Monday that the United States decided to list the IRGC as a "foreign terrorist organization," a move that will further worsen U.S.-Iran relations and is expected to further complicate the Middle East situation.
Iran's Supreme National Security Council on Monday announced U.S. Central Command forces in West Asia as "terrorist group."
