US President Donald Trump at the White House. Photo: Reuters/Leah Millis.

Leading Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups praised the Trump administration on Monday for it’s decision to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

“The IRGC has provided support and assistance to terrorist organizations and has fostered instability in the region,” said Arthur Stark, Chairman and Malcolm Hoenlein, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. “Clearly, US sanctions on Iran are having an impact, and this additional measure will place added pressure on the regime.”

The group further expressed hope that “other countries will soon follow suit and recognize that the IRGC serves as a destructive and destabilizing force throughout the Middle East and beyond.”

American Jewish Committee CEO David Harris said in a statement, “Recognition of the IRGC as a key arm of Iran’s global terrorism strategy is vitally important to the U.S., which first designated Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984. We applaud President Trump for taking this highly significant step.”

Pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC also applauded President Trump for the move.

AIPAC called the IRGC “the principal instrument of the Iranian regime’s policy of international terrorism and regional aggression” and noted that it was “responsible for the death of hundreds of American troops in Iraq.”

It also highlighted the IRGC’s role in backing the Assad regime in Syria and aiding the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.

Former senator Joseph Lieberman and ambassador Mark D. Wallace of the watchdog United Against Nuclear Iran said in a statement, “UANI applauds the Trump Administration’s decision to designate the IRGC as an FTO. For years, the United States has listed Hezbollah, Kataib Hezbollah and the al-Ashtar Brigades as FTOs, but not the main source of those groups’ manpower, materiel and money: the IRGC.”

“Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism,” they added, “and the IRGC is the primary vehicle through which the regime funds terror organizations and proxies abroad.”

“The IRGC’s designation as the terrorists they are should serve as a major warning to any business investing in Iran and will deny Tehran the financial assistance it needs to realize its hegemonic ambitions,” they said.

Pro-Israel advocacy group Christians United for Israel (CUFI) commented on the news, “In 2017, we welcomed the Treasury Department’s designation of the IRGC for their support of terrorist organizations, and we now welcome the Trump Administration’s designation of the IRGC as an FTO.”

“The Islamic Republic is a theocratic dictatorship and the IRGC is the core source of their power,” it added. “From subjugating the Iranian people to supporting terrorists and rogue regimes, the IRGC is the backbone of Tehran’s tyranny. We must put maximum pressure on Iran and designating the IRGC as an FTO is a good step in that direction.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon tweeted, “Israel thanks the US for another step to recognize Middle East realities: designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization! The IRGC is the main exporter of Iran’s regional terrorism. The world should follow this example & increase the pressure on Iran!”

#Israel thanks the US for another step to recognize Middle East realities: designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization! The IRGC is the main exporter of Iran's regional terrorism. The world should follow this example & increase the pressure on Iran!

— Danny Danon 🇮🇱 דני דנון (@dannydanon) April 8, 2019