Iranian lawmakers on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a bill that labels all US military forces as “terrorist”, a day after Washington ratcheted up pressure on Tehran by announcing that no country would any longer be exempt from US sanctions if it continues to buy Iranian oil.
The bill is a step further from the one last week, when lawmakers approved labelling just US troops in the Middle East as “terrorist”, which was a response to the US designation for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as “terrorist” earlier this month.
US President Donald Trump’s administration re-imposed sanctions on Iran, including on its energy sector, in November last year after pulling out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
The US designation against Iran’s Revolutionary Guard – the first-ever for an entire division of another government – added another layer of sanctions to the powerful paramilitary force, making it a crime under US jurisdiction to provide the guard with material support.