President Trump on Monday issued a statement wishing Iranians a happy Nowruz, the Persian New Year, while slamming Tehran.
“Twenty-five centuries ago, Darius the Great asked God to protect Iran from three dangers: hostile armies, drought, and falsehood. Today, the Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) represents all three,” Trump said in an official White House statement.
He blasted the IRGC throughout the statement, calling it “a hostile army that brutalizes and steals from the Iranian people to fund terrorism abroad.”
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Trump accused the group of “corruption and mismanagement” and said the “IRGC employs propaganda and censorship to hide the fact that the Iranian regime plunders Iran’s wealth and abuses its people.”
“Despite the oppression they face, Iranians are fighting to reclaim their rights. They long for a springtime of hope, and the United States stands with the Iranian people in their aspirations to connect to the wider world and have a responsible and accountable government that truly serves their nation’s interests,” Trump said.
The president said the Treasury Department was issuing guidance “reaffirming America’s support for the free flow of information to the citizens of Iran.”
“We also pledge to continue holding the IRGC and the Iranian regime accountable for conducting cyber-attacks abroad and for suppressing Iranian citizens who are protesting the oppression of their government at home,” he said.
The Trump administration has sought to crack down on Iran over its ballistic missile program and support for groups like Hezbollah.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to pull out of the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal if other nations in the accord don’t agree to stricter terms, which Tehran says is a non-starter.
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has defended the deal, a difference of opinion Trump cited when discussing his ouster.