In a statement, President Trump announced "my administration's plan to designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including its Qods force, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)". The designation, he added "underscores the fact that Iran's actions are fundamentally different from those of other governments. This action will significantly expand the scope and scale of our maximum pressure on the Iranian regime". Secretary of State Pompeo subsequently briefed the press regarding the announcement, as did Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook and counter-terrorism coordinator Nathan Sales. "You can't have peace, you can't have stability, you can't have security in the Middle East without weakening the IRGC", Pompeo argued in a subsequent media interview. "That's what our sanctions today were aimed at doing, and we're confident this increased pressure will save American lives and create more stability, more peace, more security throughout the Middle East".