Iran parliament dubs CIA, U.S. Armed Forces "terrorist organizations"

TEHRAN, September 29 (RIA Novosti) - Iran's parliament Saturday called the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Armed Forces "terrorist organizations" in what is seen as the Islamic Republic's response to the move made by the U.S. September 25.

Iran's legislature said in a statement that the U.S. had dropped nuclear bombs on Japan during WWII, used depleted uranium bombs in the Balkans, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and was involved in "terrorist acts of the racist and aggressive Zionist regime" [Israel] against Palestinians, as well as in torturing prisoners.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved Tuesday a bill toughening sanctions against Iran, and banning the White House from any new nuclear cooperation with Russia and other countries cooperating with the Islamic Republic in the nuclear sphere. The draft law also envisions that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could be put on the list of terrorist organizations.

The 125,000-strong IRGC is the largest branch of Iran's military, separate from the rest of the army. It is equipped with modern weaponry and controls militia units numbering up to 12 million soldiers.