(JNS) The Trump administration announced this week that the United States will officially designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group.

“Today, I am formally announcing my administration’s plan to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its Quds Force, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act,” said U.S. President Donald Trump.

This is the first time that a part of a foreign state has been officially designated as a terrorist group.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the designation will take effect on April 15, and that doing so is “recognizing a basic reality.”

In retaliation, Iran said it would designate the U.S. military as a terrorist group.

The U.S. move is part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran since withdrawing from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions lifted under it, in addition to enacting new financial and other penalties.