US real leader of world terrorism, says Hassan Rouhani

US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani Pics/AFP

Tehran: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that the United States was the real "leader of world terrorism" after Washington blacklisted Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a "foreign terrorist organisation".

"Who are you to label revolutionary institutions as terrorists?" Rouhani asked in a speech broadcast live by state television. Rouhani defended the Revolutionary Guards as a force that has fought terrorism ever since its creation in 1979. In contrast, the Islamic republic's president accused US forces of having always been directly or indirectly involved with terrorist groups or acts of terrorism.

"You want to use terrorist groups as tools against the nations of the region... you are the leader of world terrorism. Who is propagating and encouraging terrorism in today's world? Who wanted to use ISIS (the Islamic State group) as a tool?" Rouhani asked, saying that the US is harbouring the leaders of the jihadist organisation.

"Even now America is hiding the heads of ISIS, even now they are not prepared to tell the regional governments where the heads of ISIS are hiding," he said. Iran swiftly retaliated against the US move on Monday by calling US troops "terrorists". It is the first time that Washington has branded part of a foreign government a terrorist group, meaning that anyone who deals with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could face prison in the United States.

Saudi Arabia hails US move
Riyadh on Tuesday welcomed Washington's blacklisting of arch-rival Tehran's elite Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, state media reported. "The US decision (follows) the kingdom's repeated demands to the international community to address the issue of Iranian-backed terrorism," the official Saudi Press Agency quoted a foreign ministry source as saying. The source welcomed the US move as a "practical and serious step" in curbing what the kingdom describes as Iranian meddling in the region.

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