Iran Labels Argentina's Navy and Air Force Terrorist Organizations

Iran's Foreign Ministry declared Argentina's navy and air force terrorist organizations on Wednesday, November 11, in response to Argentina's designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist entity. The ministry published the statement on its spokesperson's channel. The ministry said Argentina had acted "contrary to the fundamental principles of international law" and called the listing a hostile act against a force it described as one of the pillars of Iran's official armed forces. It invoked the principle of reciprocity and a 2019 Iranian law on countermeasures against the United States' designation of the Revolutionary Guards, which it said applies to every country that follows or supports the American decision in any way. "Responsibility for all the consequences of this matter will rest with the Argentine government," the ministry said. Argentina declared the Revolutionary Guards a terrorist organization on March 31, 2026, and entered them in its national register of people and entities linked to terrorism and its financing, a listing that allows financial sanctions. President Javier Milei's office tied the decision to the 1992 car bombing of Israel's embassy in Buenos Aires, which killed 29 people, and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community building, which killed 85. It attributed both attacks to Hezbollah, which it called the Guards' operational arm in the region, and said judicial investigations had found the direct participation of senior Iranian officials. It cited Interpol red notices, among them one for former defense minister Ahmad Vahidi, whom it described as recently named head of the Guards. Milei's office said it hoped the step would settle "a historic debt of more than 30 years" with the victims' families. On November 1, the Iranian ministry used the same reciprocity law to designate Britain's Royal Navy and Royal Air Force as terrorist organizations, and named Britain's foreign intelligence service, MI6, a hostile entity.