The US Treasury Department announced Tuesday the expansion of sanctions on individuals and entities linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), under the pretext of the implementation of the US Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
CAATSA is a United States federal law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea and Russia. The bill was passed in the Senate on August 2, 2017, and was signed by President Trump.
The law requires the US government to implement sanctions on Iran within 90 days after the bill is passed. In the list released by the US Department of Treasury, 41 individuals and companies were included.
The new sanctions apply to the IRGC Air Force, the Al-Ghadir Missile Command, the Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization and the Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization, as well as IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, Head of Revolutionary Guards Intelligence Hussein Taib, top military adviser to Ali Khamenei Yahya Rahim Safavi and former chief of staff Mohammad Reza Naqdi.
Properties of these individuals and companies in the USA are blocked, US citizens are not allowed to have any kind of deal with them and they don’t have the permission to enter the USA, according to CAASTA law.
IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari hinted again that his country would target US forces in the region and increase the range of its ballistic missiles to more than 2,000 Kilometers if Washington starts implementing CAATSA.
Meanwhile, following a closed meeting with Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Judiciary Chief Sadeq Larijani, President Hassan Rouhani announced Iranian scenarios to face these sanctions.
Addressing a conference entitled “A World Free of Terror” in Tehran on Tuesday, Major General Jafari said, “The Americans are trying to implement the plan against the IRGC under the pretext of Iran’s missile power.”
However, this plan is targeting the Iranian economy in nature, he said, adding that the IRGC and missile capabilities of the Islamic republic are only pretexts for the US sanctions.
Iran has no need to extend the current 2,000 km range of its ballistic missiles as they can already strike enemy targets in case of aggression, the head of the Revolutionary Guard has said.
Jafari told reporters that the missile range can cover "most of American interest and forces" within the region, even as he underlined the program's defensive purpose.
Jafari said the ballistic missile range is based on the limits set by the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, but he warned Iran's enemies of the "high costs" of provoking his country.
