Instagram blocks accounts of Iranian Guards commanders after US terror designation
Facebook-owned photo sharing app removes accounts of IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani and others
Instagram on Monday blocked a number of accounts belonging to senior members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps after the armed force was designated a terrorist organization by the United States.
Among accounts closed and removed by the Facebook-owned photo sharing app were the IRGC’s official Instagram page, and those of its top commander Qassem Soleimani, Brigadier Moussa kamali, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri and Brig. Gen. Ezatollah Zarghami.
The United States earlier this month blacklisted the IRGC, marking the first time that Washington has branded an arm of a foreign government a terrorist group.
The designation effectively means that anyone who deals with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could face prison in the United States.
US President Donald Trump said in a statement that the "unprecedented" move "recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft."
https://x.com/i/web/status/1118302152852746240
This post can't be displayed because social networks cookies have been deactivated. You can activate them by clicking .
The move was immediately condemned by Iran, which retaliated by blacklisting US Central Command as a terrorist organization, affecting US troops serving in the wider Middle East from the Horn of Africa to Afghanistan.
But close American ally and chief Iranian foe Israel lauded the US designation. as a "significant step in the policy of maximizing pressure on Iran”.
Both Israel and the US often state that their common goal is to contain Iranian influence in the region, calling it the main instigator of instability in the Middle East due to its support of various proxy groups engaged in a number of regional conflicts.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was formed after the 1979 Islamic revolution with a mission to defend the clerical regime, in contrast to more traditional military units that protect borders.
At home, the Revolutionary Guards have amassed strong power, including with significant economic interests.
The Guards' prized unit is the Quds Force, named for the Arabic word for Jerusalem, which supports forces allied with Iran around the region including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
The Trump administration has already imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran after withdrawing last year from an international agreement under which Tehran drastically scaled back its nuclear program.
When Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal in May last year he cited Israeli intelligence findings on Iran's nuclear program as one of the reasons for his decision.
Netanyahu and Trump both considered the nuclear deal to be "flawed" and "dangerous" and see eye to eye on the importance of curbing Iran's influence in the Middle East.
Trump, who describes himself as the most pro-Israeli US president ever, has recently recognized Israeli sovereignty over the occupied Golan Heights, as well as previously moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the contested city of Jerusalem.