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Designating The Guards As Terror Group 'A Declaration Of War' - Salehi

Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Iranian nuclear program, speaks during a meeting at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, October 10, 2017

The chief of Iran’s nuclear energy agency has said that if the United States designates Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, IRGC as a terror group, “The Islamic Republic…will consider it as a declaration of war”.

Fars news agency, close to the IRGC, reports that Salehi who is in London by the invitation of British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson made this remarks in a meeting with a group of international media personalities.

Salehi is quoted as saying that since the armed forces of a country are guarantors of its security, designating them as terrorist by the U.S. “it is like a declaration of war”.

Speaking about the possible de-certification of the Iran nuclear deal, Salehi has said that such an action will have “international implications” and Tehran “depending on the behavior of the U.S. government in this regard, will take the necessary decisions.”

President Trump is preparing to announce his decision about The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, as the Iran nuclear deal is officially known, in a scheduled certification process required by the U.S. Congress every three months.

The senior Iranian official has also alluded to various scenarios being prepared by Iran’s leadership and has said that Tehran wishes to preserve the nuclear deal “but not at any cost”.

For this reason, Salehi maintained, he has told European officials that “either everyone stays in JCPOA or everyone leaves. There is no third way”.