Reeling under the objective of retaliation, as an evidently distraught Iran came out of a sombre period of mourning its top military commander's assassination by the United States, a unanimous Iranian parliament passed a bill which brands US forces as "terrorists". The newly adopted bill considers entire US forces, employees of the Pentagon and affiliated organisations, agents and commanders as terrorists. "Any aid to these forces, including military, intelligence, financial, technical, service or logistical, will be considered as cooperation in a terrorist act," the bill said. Iran had anyway deliberated on designating the US Central Command as a terrorist organisation but Soleimani's assassination gave it every reason to move forward with it. The bill is also in response to America designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation. Soleimani was the head of IRGC's foreign operations arm, Quds Force for whom the Iranian legislators allocated $224 million in a bid to boost their defensive power. As the US vociferously indulges in warmongering, with Trump threatening to strike 52 Iranian sites of cultural importance, Iran's sovereign sentiment has been grossly hurt. While the US anticipates Iranian retaliation, it would be prudent to not fall in US trap and bring America to global shame over its authoritarian action. International order must realise that the American invasion of the Middle East has not yielded any lessons for America who so conveniently bombed Soleimani's car via drone in Iraq. With Iraq yet to decide on banishing US troops, the latter has been shamelessly sitting in the region under the guise of combatting the now-dormant Islamic State's resurgence. Branding each other's forces as a terrorist is no solution to the peacetime order that 21st century is habitual of. But it seems Trump's election prospectives are likely to get a huge boost over his Iranian misadventure. It is worrisome that the international community has not demanded answers from the United States, whose action has been very offensive. Is it so convenient for a state to bomb another, even if pursuing a wanted fugitive? Equipped with sanctions to throw and diplomacy (CAATSA) to make others not interfere in its personal agenda — of isolating Iran — the United States' has grown to be an embodiment of authoritarianism. Sanctions and trade war is still bearable but Trump has embarked on something which is comprehensively reprehensible.
An outright war would not be something Iran wants to pursue, even if it is heavily-desirable. To this extent, it is in Iran's best interest to pursue lawful options to bring the United States to the table and remedy what in previous times could easily have been a blood-for-blood situation. Iranian pursuit of justice here means bringing America to its senses and relieving it of the bullish stance it holds. The role of international community becomes increasingly significant here since it ought to be a concerted effort if US is to be held accountable for its misadventures that not only impact a single country but affects many others. US ending sanction waivers in 2018 for countries importing Iranian crude is a case in point of how America continues to dominate diplomatic proceedings.
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