Iran has designated Argentina’s Navy and Air Force as terrorist organizations, escalating a diplomatic confrontation set off by President Javier Milei’s government placing Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on its terrorist list.

Tehran says the step is an act of reciprocity, grounded in a 2019 law covering countries that classify, or support the classification of, the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. Iran’s Foreign Ministry described Argentina’s earlier decision as a “hostile act” and warned that Buenos Aires would be responsible for the consequences, without setting out what measures might follow.¹

That argument contrasts sharply with Argentina’s position. Buenos Aires says its designation of the Revolutionary Guard followed concerns over Iran’s alleged support for Hezbollah and the long-running investigation into two attacks in the capital: the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy, which killed 29 people, and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center, which killed 85.² Argentine courts have attributed responsibility for the attacks to Iran and Hezbollah, according to the reports.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry “categorically rejected” Tehran’s designation, calling it an unfounded and unacceptable accusation against institutions constituted under the national constitution and tasked with defending sovereignty in accordance with domestic and international law.³

The government also renewed its call for Iran to cooperate with Argentine justice and make accused Iranian nationals available to the courts. In this account, Tehran treats Argentina’s decision as an action warranting retaliation; Buenos Aires treats it as part of an unresolved accountability effort tied to the victims of the 1990s bombings. The clash follows a broader deterioration in relations under Milei, whose government has strengthened ties with the United States and Israel and moved against Iranian diplomatic representation in Argentina.