Iranian Parliament designates US Army, Pentagon as terrorist entities

The Iranian Parliament unanimously voted on Tuesday to designate the US Army and Pentagon as terrorist entities in the wake of the killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, the country's Tasnim news agency reported.

The motion passed at an open parliament session also obliges the government to allocate 200 million euros from the National Development Fund for the elite Quds Force.

Last week, a US drone strike in Iraq killed Soleimani in an operation ordered by US President Donald Trump, who claims that the top Iranian general was a "murderer" and terrorist who plotted attacks on Americans. The Iranian leadership has pledged that Soleimani's death will not go unavenged.

Trump, in turn, threatened that the US would strike over 50 Iranian targets, including cultural sites, should Iran retaliate. The statement prompted criticism since targeting cultural sites is considered a war crime under international law. The US leader yet reiterated his threat.

Iran and the US have long been accusing each other of using terrorist methods.

Back in April, Washington formally designated Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), of which the Quds Force is a part, as a foreign terrorist organisation. Tehran responded by designating the US Central Command as a terrorist organisation and the American government as a sponsor of terrorism.