The United States has designated Iraq’s Asaib Ahl al-Haq as a terrorist organization along with two of the militia group's leaders, the State Department said in a statement on Friday.

The group and its leaders are “violent proxies” of Iran, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

The group is backed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, which has also been sanctioned by Washington, according to the State Department.

The designation came after a US airstrike killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a top Iranian commander, in Baghdad.

The White House justified the killing with a tweet saying that Soleimani “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region."

The 62-year-old led the Quds Force, which undertakes the country's foreign campaigns.