Iranian MPs approved a non-binding resolution Saturday labeling the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Army as "terrorist organizations" in direct response to a U.S. bill recommending lawmakers seek a similar designation to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
"The aggressor U.S. Army and the Central Intelligence Agency are terrorists and also nurture terror," a joint statement signed by 215 members of the 290-seat Iranian parliament said on Saturday.
The hard-lined government cited the American atomic attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the Second World War, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and the torture of terror suspects in prison as reasons for the designation.
The depleting uranium munitions in the Balkans and support for the killings of Palestinians by Israel were also referenced as reasons for the resolution, seen as a diplomatic offensive against the U.S.
The open parliamentary session was aired live on state-operated radio.
If the resolution becomes legislation and is ratified by Iran's constitutional watchdog, the designation would become law.
The government will likely wait for a U.S. response to the resolution before proceeding, The Associated Press is reporting. The White House government declined to comment on the designation.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved a similar bill last week urging the government to brand the Islamic Guards, a division of the Iranian military, as "terrorist."
Iran responded by saying a designation of that magnitude would be illegal and would result in a direct confrontation with the entire Islamic nation.
The motion comes a week after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told the UN General Assembly that his country would continue to defy "arrogant powers" seeking to impose sanctions and dismantle the country's nuclear program.
The leader has defied two UN Security Council resolutions demanding that Iran suspend its enrichment program. Ahmadinejad maintains his country has no plans to build nuclear weapons and that Iran is only interested in developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
During the same trip, Ahmadinejad came under fire for a speech to students and faculty at Columbia University in New York where he claimed Iran itself was a victim of U.S.-supported terrorists.
He said members of the Iranian government had been killed in an attack by U.S.-supported terrorists, though he didn't name the alleged attackers or provide other details.
With files from The Associated Press
