WP/NYT: U.S. to designate Iranian Revolutionary Guards corps a terrorist organization:

... For weeks, the Bush administration has been debating whether to target the Revolutionary Guard Corps in full, or only its Quds Force wing, which U.S. officials have linked to the growing flow of explosives, roadside bombs, rockets and other arms to Shiite militias in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Quds Force also lends support to Shiite allies such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and to Sunni movements such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Although administration discussions continue, the initial decision is to target the entire Guard Corps, U.S. officials said. The administration has not yet decided when to announce the new measure, but officials said they would prefer to do so before the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly next month, when the United States intends to increase international pressure against Iran. ...

I believe the NY Sun had this a couple weeks back.

Update: The Post's Robin Wright was on NPR this morning saying the decision reflects an expression of Washington's frustration at having trouble getting a third round of more meaningful economic sanctions through the UN Security Council (because of China's increased economic ties with Iran, she said) and was seen as a way to target the Guard Corps' substantial financial and business interests AND the foreign companies that do business with it absent that. Responding also to pressure from Congress.

More here.

Posted by Laura at August 14, 2007 11:06 PM