The US House of Representatives on Tuesday overwhelming passed legislation calling for Iran's Revolutionary Guard to be designated a terrorist organisation and tightening sanctions on Tehran. The legislation passed by 397 votes to 16 as tensions spiked between Washington and Iran during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to the United Nations.
It sanctions foreign companies with US subsidiaries which invest in Iran particularly in oil and gas sectors. It also prohibits civilian nuclear cooperation with nations that support Iran's nuclear program and calls on the US government to urge foreign states and banks to divest from Iranian interests.
The bill also calls on the State Department to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard as a "foreign terrorist organisation" and therefore open the corps and companies associated with it to economic sanctions.