US to designate Iran Revolutionary Guard a terrorist group

[riversedge]

Source: AP


BY MATTHEW LEE and SUSANNAH GEORGE 40 minutes ago






WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is preparing to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a “foreign terrorist organization,” an unprecedented move against a national armed force that could have widespread implications for U.S. personnel and policy in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Officials informed of the step said an announcement was expected Monday, after a monthslong escalation in the administration’s rhetoric against Iran, its support for militia groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen, as well as anti-Israel groups in the region and beyond.

It would be the first such designation by any American administration of an entire foreign government entity, although portions of the Guard, notably its elite Quds Force, have been targeted previously by the United States.

Two U.S. officials and a congressional aide confirmed the planned move. They were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, seemed to anticipate the designation, saying in a tweet Sunday aimed at President Donald Trump that Trump “should know better than to be conned into another US disaster.”
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Read more: https://apnews.com/b4ca13aa4de544fda5f4533688825347

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FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2016 file photo, Iran's Revolutionary Guard troops march in a military parade marking the 36th anniversary of Iraq's 1980 invasion of Iran, in front of the shrine of late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran. The Trump administration is preparing to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps a “foreign terrorist organization” in an unprecedented move that could have widespread implications for U.S. personnel and policy. U.S. Officials say an announcement could come as early as Monday, April 8, 2019, following a months-long escalation in the administration’s rhetoric against Iran. The move would be the first such designation by any U.S. administration of an entire foreign government entity. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)

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[rpannier]

1. Does that make Eric Prince's organization or the CIA a terrorist group

as well?

[RKP5637]

3. K&R!!!! n/t

[RKP5637]

2. IMO tRump would love to have a war he can call his own. FFS, just what we need, another. It feels

like it's being ratcheted up.

[oldsoftie]

7. But he said he'd get us OUT of the Middle East. He wouldnt lie about that?

[NNYCDN51]

19. The Mighty Warrior tRump

Keep On Thinking Free

[RKP5637]

20. Yuck, yep! Bone spurs and all. n/t

[leftieNanner]

4. Isn't that going to pose some problems for Princess Ivanka?

Since she used money laundered from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for that half-built hotel in Azerbaijan. According to Rachel's reporting several months ago.

[watoos]

12. I was about to post this,

yes her name was on the project. Rachel even showed a promo where Ivanka was pushing her tower but the promo was being shot from another tower. They built the tower in the bad side of town, never built an access road to it, never sold a room in it, the laundered money didn't come "from" the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, it went "to" the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

I believe that Ivanka got out from under the deal now.

Also I believe the hotel was pretty much finished. It looked finished from the outside.

[Va Lefty]

5. How about we designate the republican party as a terrorist group?

[cstanleytech]

9. Hell, I keep waiting for the RICO investigation into them to start.

[nycbos]

6. I thought this was done a long time again.

[cstanleytech]

8. My bet is he is trying to goad Iran into doing something to justify another war with the hopes of

using it to rally his base around before the election.

[kairos12]

18. Starting a war with Iran is his reelection strategy.

[Fred Sandman]

10. So, anything goes to help Bibi.

[Takket]

11. would that mean he could wage war with them without Congress?

sorry i forget the exact resolution but it passed with Shrub was president and basically said the president has a "blank check" to go fight terrorists anywhere. is that still in effect, and would that work here?

[Initech]

13. But will they ever denounce the Proud Boys and III%ers as terrorist groups?

[Still In Wisconsin]

14. I still maintain that Gulf War II was not about oil but rather about getting W re-elected...

That war was started (in my opinion, and no I wasn't there so it's really a guess) because Rove didn't want to repeat what happened To GHWB, who was tremendously popular after Gulf War I, but had lost that popularity by 1992 because "his war ended too soon." I think Rummy and Cheney ginned up a reason to invade Iraq so that W would still be a "war president" when the 2004 election rolled around.

This, in my opinion, is Trump's people trying to make him a "war president," too, with 2020 coming up fast.

[watoos]

15. The SC decided the first election that Gore actually won,

and the rigged voting machines decided the 2nd election that Kerry actually won.

[Grins]

16. I smell a Bolton...

And I'll bet - so do others.

[neohippie]

17. Trump did a deal connected to Iranian Guard

Trump has done business with people under sanctions in the past including his campaign meeting with sanctioned officials and a deal that was connected to the Iranian Guard



https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trumps-azerbaijan-hotel-linked-with-corruption-iran-2017-3

An unopened Trump hotel in Azerbaijan has been linked to corrupt officials who support the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, reports Adam Davidson in a New Yorker piece.
Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku, a sleek 5-star hotel in the shape of a ship sail in Azerbaijan's capital, never opened despite appearing nearly complete.

Plans to build the tower began in 2008, when developers first drew up a "high-end apartment building" downtown in the capital of Azerbaijan.

In 2012, the Trump Organization and Azerbaijani developers signed off on a contract to turn the building into a luxury hotel.

Even though the hotel has Trump's name emblazoned on it and had previously been posted as a future project on Trump Organization's website, the organization's chief legal officer Alan Garten said that Trump played only a nominal role in construction of the hotel — he was "merely a licensor" who had allowed Anar Mammadov, the son of powerful Azerbaijani oligarch Ziya Mammadov, to use his name, the New Yorker reports.

Trump's own financial disclosure report showed that he earned $2.5 million in income from the project between January 2014 and July 2015 and an additional $323,000 afterwards. In 2014, Ivanka Trump visited the Baku construction site and posted photos and videos of her trip to Instagram.

And of course his Trump Russia deal


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2018/11/29/events-that-lead-trumps-abandoned-moscow-deal-michael-cohens-latest-plea-agreement/?utm_term=.1c1ae928524f