TEHRAN, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Iranian parliament on Tuesday passed a bill blacklisting the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces in West Asia as a "terrorist group".
The decision by the Iranian lawmakers followed the recent move by the United States to designate Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) a "foreign terrorist organization."
Under the Iranian law, "the CENTCOM as well as the forces, organizations and bodies under its command, are declared terrorist" organizations, according to the Press TV.
"Providing any assistance, including military, intelligence, financial, technical, educational, administrative and logistical, to these forces in order to counter the IRGC and the Islamic Republic of Iran amounts to collaboration in an act of terror," the report said, citing the Iranian law.
Earlier on April 8, Iran's Supreme National Security Council announced the U.S. forces in West Asia as a "terrorist group."
The tensions between Iran and the U.S. have been rising following the U.S. decision to designate the IRGC as a terror group and the latest move to end exemptions from U.S. sanctions for countries importing Iranian oil in May.
