The Argentine government officially designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization on Tuesday, April 1, 2026. The executive order, signed by President Javier Milei and his cabinet, mandates the immediate freezing of all assets held by the IRGC and its affiliated entities within Argentine jurisdiction. This decision places the IRGC on the Public Registry of Persons and Entities Linked to Acts of Terrorism and its Financing (RePET), a list managed by the Ministry of Justice.
The designation follows decades of diplomatic friction between Buenos Aires and Tehran. Argentine judicial authorities have long accused the IRGC of orchestrating the 1994 bombing of the Asociacion Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) community center, which killed 85 people, as well as the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy. In early 2024, the Argentine Court of Cassation had already ruled that Iran was a terrorist state and that the AMIA attack constituted a crime against humanity. The April 1 decree formalizes this stance by targeting the IRGC as the primary operational arm responsible for these actions.
Under the new restrictions, any financial institution operating in Argentina is prohibited from facilitating transactions involving the IRGC or its members. The Ministry of Security, led by Patricia Bullrich, confirmed that the government will collaborate with the Financial Information Unit (UIF) to monitor and block any capital flows linked to the group. Furthermore, the decree imposes a strict travel ban on individuals identified as members of the IRGC, effectively barring them from entering Argentine territory or utilizing domestic transit hubs.
This move aligns Argentina more closely with the foreign policy objectives of the United States and Israel, both of which have previously designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. Argentina is the first major South American economy to take this specific step against the IRGC, signaling a departure from the more neutral or non-aligned stances seen in other regional capitals. The Milei administration stated that the measure is a necessary step to protect national security and uphold international commitments to combat global terrorism and its financing networks.
International observers noted that the timing of the announcement coincides with increased regional scrutiny of Iranian influence in the Western Hemisphere. The Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement emphasizing that the designation is based on evidence of the IRGC's involvement in destabilizing activities. The government has also requested that Interpol maintain and enforce Red Notices for several high-ranking Iranian officials linked to the 1994 bombing, seeking their extradition to face trial in Buenos Aires.