Daijiworld Media Network - Tehran
Tehran, Nov 11: Iran's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday announced the designation of Argentina's Navy and Air Force as terrorist organisations in retaliation for Buenos Aires declaring Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist entity.
In a statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the move was in response to the Argentine government's decision in late March to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.
Describing Argentina's decision as "hostile and being in contradiction with the fundamental principles of international law", the ministry said Tehran's action was based on the principle of reciprocity and a domestic law providing for reciprocal measures against the US designation of the IRGC.
The law provides for equivalent countermeasures against countries that comply with or support Washington's actions against Tehran, the statement said, Xinhua news agency reported.
The ministry held the Argentine government responsible for all consequences arising from its decision, stressing that the IRGC is an integral part of Iran's armed forces.
The office of Argentine President Javier Milei announced on March 31 that the country had designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.
The decision followed calls by US President Donald Trump's administration for its allies to designate the IRGC and Hezbollah as terrorist organisations.
Buenos Aires said the measure was taken in response to the IRGC's alleged support for Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group blamed by Argentina for the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community centre in the capital. The attack killed 85 people and injured more than 300 others.
Earlier this month, Iran's Foreign Ministry had announced the designation of Britain's Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Secret Intelligence Service as "terrorist and hostile" entities over the British government's actions against Tehran.
Meanwhile, Qatar on Tuesday said progress had been made in negotiations between the United States and Iran. Doha described recent White House talks involving Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani as positive.
However, Qatar cautioned that it was too early to predict when an agreement between Washington and Tehran could be reached.