IRAN declared all US troops in the Middle East terrorists and called the US government a sponsor of terrorism in a Bill President Hassan Rouhani signed into law yesteday.

The move was in response to President Donald Trump’s decision earlier this month to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a foreign terrorist organisation – the first time a country’s national armed forces have been listed as such.

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the armed forces and the Supreme National Security Council have been instructed to implement the law, though it is unclear what impact it will have on US operations.

The United States Central Command, which is responsible for US military operations in the Middle East and Afghanistan, has been specifically identified as a terrorist organisation.

Relations between Tehran and Washington have continued to deteriorate since Mr Trump pulled out of the nuclear deal last year and reimposed sanctions to hit Iran’s oil trade.

Mr Rouhani pledged to continue the export of crude oil despite the sanctions with many countries willing to defy US threats of secondary sanctions.