Paraguay hits Iran's IRGC with terrorist designation; expands designations for Hamas, Hezbollah
President Santiago Pena announced the designations in a statement Thursday, describing the move as a reaffirmation of Asuncion's commitment to the global fight against terrorism while strengthening its strategic allegiances with the United States and Israel.
"Identifying entities that promote and carry out terrorist acts represents a decisive step for the international community to act in a coordinated manner in their permanent dismantling," he said.
"With these decisions, Paraguay reaffirms its unwavering commitment to peace, international security and the strict respect for human rights, consolidating its position within the international community as a country firmly opposed to all forms of terrorism and strengthening its ties with allied nations in this fight."
He said the reason for blacklisting the IRGC was its systemic involvement in human rights violations and participation in terrorist activities.
Paraguay had previously designated the military wings of Iran-proxy militias Hezbollah of Lebanon and Hamas of Gaza, but extended the designation to their political and social arms on Thursday over their public statements that "fail to distinguish between their armed political or social components," the president said.
The IRGC is a military institution that runs parallel to Iran's army and plays a significant role in the country's internal and regime security, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service. Hamas and Hezbollah are Shiite Muslim militant organizations that receive support from the IRGC.
All three have been widely designated as terrorist organizations, including by the United States, which celebrated Paraguay's designations on Thursday.
"The important steps Paraguay has taken will help cut off the ability of the Iranian regime and its proxies to plot terrorist attacks and raise money for its malign and destabilizing activity, including in the Tri-Border area Paraguay shares with Argentina and Brazil," Tammy Bruce, a U.S. State Department spokesperson, said in a statement.
Israel, which has been in a proxy conflict with Iran for years and is fighting a war against Hamas, similarly cheered Paraguay for the moves.
"Iran is the world's leading exporter of terrorism and extremism, and together with its terror proxies, it threatens regional stability and global peace. More countries should follow suit and join the fight against Iranian aggression and terrorism," Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar of Israel said on X.
The announcement comes as the United States is trying to get Iran to accept a new deal aimed at preventing it from securing a nuclear weapon.
U.S. President Donald Trump has been seeking such a deal since his first term when he imposed sanctions on Iran and withdrew the United States from a landmark Obama-era multinational nuclear accord with the same goal.
Since then, Iran's nuclear program has greatly advanced and according to a Congressional Research Service report from last month, it needs as little as a week to produce enough weapons-grad highly enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb.
Bruce told reporters on Thursday that talks with Iran were ongoing, with the next round of negotiations set to take place in Oman on Saturday.
"We've made good progress, and we have a long way to go," she said.
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