♪ >> president trump announced he is designating iran's revolutionary arm a foreign terrorist organization. the first time the u.s. government has named a part of a foreign government as part of a terrorist group.

he says it is to increase international pressure on iran. secretary of state talked about the designation a short time ago. >> good morning. make an important foreign-policy announcement concerning the islamic republic of iran. states isunited continuing to build its maximum pressure campaign against the iranian regime. i am announcing our intent to designate the islamic revolutionary guard corps a terrorist organization in accordance with section 219 of the immigration and nationality act. this designation takes effect one week from today. the is the first time united states has designated a part of another government as an nto. their use of terrorism as a tool of statecraft makes it fundamentally different from any other governments. this historic step will this deprived the number one

state sponsor of terror the ability to spread misery and death around the world. businesses and banks around the world now have a clear duty to companies with international transactions are not connected to them in any material way. it gives the u.s. government additional tools to counter iranian backed terrorism. this designation is a response to an outlaw regime that should surprise no one. than 970 on the more iranian individuals that the trump administration has already sanctioned. the islamic republic's revolutionary guard created and supported other terrorist groups. a legitimatede as military organization but none of us should be fooled. regularly violate the laws of armed conflict and the organize and execute terror campaigns around the world.

from the moment it was founded to export mandate was the revolution by whatever means possible. the institutionalized terrorism after their inception directing horrific attacks against the marine barracks in 1983 and the u.s. embassy annex in 1984. alongside the lebanese has the law. its operatives have worked to destabilize the middle east from syria to yemen. with this designation the trump administration is recognizing a basic reality. the irgc will take its rightful place on the same list as terror groups that support the lebanese others.h among the long list of -- i want to give you a handful of examples.

last september a federal court in the united states found iran and the irgc responsible for a bombing that killed 19 american servicemembers. states -- theited saudi -- with the intent to kill the saudi ambassador to the united states of america. outside of the u.s. their terror campaign is just as active. in 2012 operatives were apprehended after planning to attack israeli targets in turkey. othert same year two operatives were arrested in kenya for planning a bomb attack. as recently as january 2018 german authorities uncovered 10 operatives active in their country. the irgc supports palestinian terror groups and helps create

u.s. designated terror groups in lebanon and iraq. the irgc also backs the murderous assad regime which gases and slaughters its own people. our designation makes clear to the world that the iranian regime not only supports terrorist groups but engages in terrorism itself. this designation brings unprecedented pressure to figures to relieve the regime's terror campaign. he oversees iran's forces to impact the vomit revolution through terrorism and other forms of violence. he doles out the regime's profits to terrorist groups across the region and around the world. the blood of a 603 american soldiers the iranian regime is found to have killed in iraq is on his hand and the hands of the irgc. the regime has faced no accountability from the international community for

those debts. in just this past july the city council of tehran announced the irgc cooperative foundation has embezzled more than $1 billion from the city of toronto the long time mayor of ehran was accused of steering payments to the irgc. arrested017tehran

commanders involved with the cooperative known for corruption including the financial architect. there is the city close seeley -- the billionaire general. he went from being a low-level operative to being one of the richest men in iran thanks to construction and oil contracts from companies links to the irgc. the leaders of iran are racketeers not revolutionaries. the iranian people deserve better than to be governed by this hypocritical and corrupt officials. they are opportunists. also responsible for wrongly detaining u.s. persons, several of whom remain in captivity in iran. knowmerican people should we are working diligently to bring each of those individuals home. with this designation we are sending a clear signal and message to iran's leaders.

that the united states is bringing all pressure to bear to stop the regime's outlaw behavior. their allies and partners around the world -- thank you. >> we have time for one or two questions. thank you. after that designation and president trump saying -- [indiscernible] sanctions on the lebanese -- because of his ties with hezbollah. question, my most recent trip to beirut i made clear to lebanese leadership including in conversations with

america was not going to tolerate the continued rise of hezbollah inside the country and that it was not in the best interest of the lebanese people to have an armed terror group underwritten by the very iran we are speaking about continuing to have significant sway inside of that nation by use of force. about political parties, it is about armed forces inside the country of lebanon. tomade clear we were going continue to evaluate sanctions for those connected to the -- question i have seen the minister make many statements before. we have made clear publicly and privately that an attack on the united states of america is something they ought to think more than twice about. i ask this question two weeks

ago and you did not seem to be sure. i am wondering what has changed. you have listed them as a terrorist organization. will you treat them like isis and al qaeda? note, the prime minister netanyahu said he wants to annex part of the west bank. what is your reaction to that? >> i don't have comments in response to either one of those questions. when you say target you are talking about things the department of defense does, i will allow them to respond to that question. how does this affect eu trade, oil waivers and since the irgc is involved in most parts of the iranian economy. questions involving banking, how does this affect those relations?

you said often you want to bring back to a negotiation table. do you believe this will help bring them back or is that no longer your aim? said before is they want iran to behave like a normal nation. we have laid out 12 things they need to do in may of last year. that is the mission of this designation. that is our purpose. to achieve the outcomes we laid out back in may of last year to give the islamic republic the ability to do the simple things like not launch missiles into saudi arabia risking american lives each and every day. >> how does this affect things like eu trade? if you are the general counsel for a european financial institution today there is more risk. it is absolutely the case that the irgc amounts to a

significant piece of the iranian economy through kleptocracy. difficult to know whether the irgc is involved. that is the diligence effort is an a norm is undertaking. acquire moreor diligence by every business considering doing things that are second and third orders removed from what you might think of as traditional connections to the iranian economy. , youur point about trade asked about oil waivers. we will make that decision in due course as we move towards may 2. this absolutely extends and creates clarity around those transactions that create risk for companies not just in europe but all over the world. >> [inaudible] this is the last week of work on capitol hill before lawmakers labor spring recess.

bill toe will debate a restore net neutrality standards that were in place before the fcc decision last june. there also be a two-year federal budget setting discretionary spending. the senate will spend much of the week on nominations. mitch mcconnell filed motions to limit debate on six nominations including the u.s. ambassador to saudi arabia. the senate gavels in a 4:00 eastern for general speeches live on c-span two. you can watch on c-span.org or listen to congressional debate on the free c-span radio app. the house rules committee will meet to decide the debate rules for two bills coming up later this week in the house. on net neutrality and the federal budget. once tv was simply three giant networks and a government supported service called pbs.

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