"Pentagon is a terrorist force" .. Iran warns Washington against targeting the Revolutionary Guards

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani warned against the inclusion of the United States in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization and stressed that Tehran would reciprocate the move.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera on Sunday, Larijani said that if the United States took this step, "the US military and the Pentagon are definitely a terrorist force."

In a related context, Larijani said that Iran does not rely heavily on oil, and that it has many other possibilities, adding that "it is not a country can be overcome in this way."

This came in response to a question on whether Tehran would stand up to US sanctions if it were prevented from exporting its oil.

On the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Larijani stressed that Iran does not want to harm the countries of the region.

The interview came a day after a report in the Wall Street Journal reported that the US administration planned to include the Iranian Revolutionary Guards on its list of "terrorist organizations" in a move that would increase the pressure on the military force.

White House officials said the decision would be announced on Monday.

The Revolutionary Guard is an ideological army established in 1979 to protect the Iranian revolution from internal and external threats and has considerable political and economic influence.

The Quds Force, the elite forces of the Revolutionary Guards, is the external arm of this paramilitary force and supports the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In 2018, the United States imposed strict economic sanctions on the Revolutionary Guards.

The inclusion of the Revolutionary Guards on the list of terrorist organizations would prevent American citizens and entities from engaging in any dealings with this military force, under the threat of prosecution.

The Pentagon and the CIA fear the possible repercussions of this action on US troops deployed in the region.

Washington has stepped up economic pressure on Iran since Trump decided last year to withdraw from the nuclear deal between Iran and the major powers in 2015.