For the first time, the United States is targeting a branch of a foreign government’s military as terrorists no better than al Qaeda or the Islamic State. President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as “a foreign terrorist organization.”

The Trump administration, stuffed like sardines with Iran hawks who never waste a moment of each day figuring out how to further squeeze the ayatollahs’ finances, is popping the champagne and congratulating themselves about the resoluteness of their actions. The policy, driven internally by national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is a vintage feel-good moment — an action that tickles us with excitement and tough-guy bravado but one that will have little if any impact on our objective of forcing Tehran to change its behavior.