Ever since the administration of Donald Trump took over, the US approach to international rules, regulations, and customs has changed. This, of course, does not mean that former US governments always acted in the framework of international regulations, were participatory and maintained a constructive approach towards the international order. The difference between the government of Trump and previous US governments is that in his administration, such encounters have become much more apparent and occur without any cover-up and political and diplomatic considerations.

In this regard, mention can be made of the following cases among others: withdrawal from international treaties; unilateral decisions made by Washington over the issue of Palestine, such as transfer of the US embassy to Quds (Jerusalem) and recognition of the Zionist regime’s rule over the Golan Heights; banning the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court from entering the US soil; or adopting laws to prevent travel of Muslims to the US. In this context, the United States is expected to continue to pursue a more unilateralist approach towards Iran. In compliance with this policy, last year Washington pulled back from the Iran Nuclear Accord (also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and now it has designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist group.

It is for the first time part of sovereignty or part of the armed forces of a country is placed on the list of US designation of terrorist groups. Although not approved by the international community, it is unlikely to receive support except for a few countries in the region. But even if the US is isolated, it would not be a matter of concern for Washington. It can even be said that the United States has adopted a policy of controversy, unilateralism, and ignoring the most obvious international rules, regulations and conventions. But as this approach is pursued as a dominant policy in Washington, it is not a matter of concern for US officials.

It should be noted that former governments, as they were reluctant to see the incumbent governments get isolated, sometimes tried to join the international community or strive to draw support from the international community. But the nationalists who have come to power in the United States since 2016, are not very concerned about the image of the United States and are basically critical of international processes and view these policies as a weak point; they may even be pleased and regard this as a strong point that their course of action is opposed by the world.

Nevertheless, the US designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as a terrorist group will have consequences and implications, which can be reviewed at three levels: First bilateral relations between the United States and Iran; second at the regional level namely West Asia region, and third at the international level. At the bilateral level between the United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran, we can say that the current situation is the most stressful and chaotic days since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Over the past 40 years, there have been many ups and downs in Tehran-Washington relations, but there has never been any serious conflict between the parties and the sides have not accused each other’s armed forces of being terrorists.

Putting the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on the list of terrorist groups by the US and Iran’s designation of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on the same list would increase the possibility of military confrontation between the two parties either intentionally or unintentionally. It can be said that it is now the most sensitive and the most dangerous time in the relationship between Iran and the United States and it could lead to a military encounter.
The regional-level implications also go back to the fact that increased military risk and possible collision between Iran and the United States would have some regional implications. Because US forces are dispersed in the West Asia region and Iran too, has an advisory presence in Iraq and Syria. Therefore, a military encounter can aggravate the turbulent state of the region and spread across the region.
At the international level, there is also the danger that the recent US decision would turn into a custom, and from now on, Americans will designate the armed forces of other countries as terrorists, and the rest of the world would take countermeasures.
Therefore, the tradition that has been practised over the past 200 years, where and the countries would not designate each other as terrorists would be eliminated and it would become a procedure that will increase the level of conflicts in the international arena. These international outcomes are also alarming and could have a fundamental transformation of the rules of war and international law related to armed hostilities.