WASHINGTON/TEHRAN, 16 August 2007 — The United States plans to label Iran’s Revolutionary Guard a “terrorist” organization, allowing the US government to target the military branch’s business and financial operations, newspapers reported yesterday.

President George W. Bush’s administration suspects the Revolutionary Guard, Iran’s largest military arm, of providing support to extremists in Iraq, Afghanistan, and throughout the Middle East. The decision follows demands from US lawmakers to take a tougher line against Tehran and reflects administration frustration with the effect of UN resolutions against Iran’s nuclear program, the Washington Post reported.

The order would allow the United States to block the assets of suspected terrorists and to disrupt operations by foreign businesses that “provide support, services or assistance to, or otherwise associate with, terrorists,” the Post said, citing unnamed US officials.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned her European counterparts of the planned move, saying that the administration had grown impatient with delays in securing approval from the UN Security Council for more economic sanctions against Tehran, the New York Times reported, citing US and European officials.

The Revolutionary Guard would be the first national military branch included on the US list of individuals, businesses, charities and extremist groups believed to be engaged in terrorist activities. The list includes Al-Qaeda, the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah and Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Meanwhile, Iran’s judiciary accused three detained Iranian journalists yesterday of publishing “lies” about the ruling system in the Islamic Republic. Soheil Assefi was detained on Aug. 4, following the detention of Masoud Bastani and Farshad Gorbanpour on July 31.

In what was believed to be the judiciary’s first public comment on the cases, judiciary spokesman Alireza Jamshidi said Assefi was under investigation, and bail of 1.5 billion rials ($162,000) had been set for Gorbanpour but suggested it might be lowered.

“Their offense is publishing false statements and lies against the system as well as giving news and information to foreign (Internet) sites who have published these lies,” Jamshidi told reporters.