The Trump administration today designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), the first time the U.S. has applied that label to an element of a foreign government.
The big picture: To add a group to the FTO list, the State Department must demonstrate that it has the "capability and intent to engage in terrorist activity" that threatens Americans or U.S. national security. The U.S. first designated 30 groups in 1997 after Congress passed an anti-terror law, though some have since been removed.
Go deeper: Terrorist designation increases burden on Iran's Revolutionary Guard