Iranian lawmakers voted to designate the Pentagon and the entire U.S. military as terrorist organizations.
The Tuesday vote comes less than a week after the United States conducted a drone strike that killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani. The legislation was unanimously approved by 223 members of Parliament.
Additionally, Parliament earmarked $220 million to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, the elite special military operations unit that Soleimani once led. The funds were allocated in response to his death.
Soleimani, 62, was killed along with Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, the leader of the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Forces. His death has stoked fears of potential retaliation from Iran or Iranian proxies. President Trump said he has a list of 52 Iranian targets, including cultural sites, and threatened to hit them if Iran seeks revenge for Soleimani’s death.
Tuesday’s votes came the same day as dozens were killed during a stampede at Solemani’s funeral procession. Thousands of his supporters had assembled in his hometown, Kerman, to watch his casket be brought to the cemetery. The funeral had to be postponed because of the deaths and injuries.
