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Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday designated Argentina’s navy and air force as terrorist organizations, answering a move Buenos Aires made months earlier against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In a statement, the ministry said Tehran considers the two Argentine services subject to a 2019 Iranian law and its provisions, and designates them as terrorist organizations on that basis. It was not immediately clear what practical effect the designation would have.
Argentina’s government said it “categorically rejected” the decision. Its foreign ministry called the measure “completely baseless” and “an unacceptable accusation.”
In late March, Argentina designated the IRGC, the ideological arm of Iran’s military, as a terrorist organization. Buenos Aires cited the group’s support for Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group.
Argentina also says the IRGC was involved in the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish community center in the capital, which killed 85 people and injured hundreds more.
Iran passed legislation in 2019 that allows it to reciprocate against any state that designates its military forces as terrorist organizations. The law was enacted the same year the United States designated the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization.
Wednesday’s announcement is the latest application of that framework. The IRGC, created after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, is a powerful force that operates alongside Iran’s regular armed forces.
Earlier this month, Iran made a similar move against Britain. It designated the UK’s foreign intelligence service, MI6, as a hostile group, and the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as terrorist organizations. That followed Britain’s designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization in July.
The AMIA bombing, which struck the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building in Buenos Aires in July 1994, is the deadliest attack of its kind in Argentina’s history. Argentine prosecutors and courts have long linked it to Iran and Hezbollah. Tehran has consistently denied any involvement.
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