Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces, General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri delivers a speech during a military parade marking the 36th anniversary of Iraq’s 1980 invasion of Iran.

:: Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri threatened to target American bases and forces in the region if the United States classifies the Revolutionary Guards on the terrorist list.

At the Revolutionary Guards’ ground troop’s festival in the city of Mashhad that took place on Monday, Bagheri said that “putting the Revolutionary Guard in the terrorist lists with terrorist groups can be very costly to the United States and its military bases and forces in the region.”

According to the Tasnim news agency, General Bagheri pointed out in his speech that “Iran’s missile capabilities are defensive ones and are non-negotiable under any condition.”

Bagheri attacked US statements about the “regime change” in Tehran and undermined the importance of the new sanctions on the Revolutionary Guards.

He also also warned congressional lawmakers of the consequences of new sanctions on Iran’s controversial missile program.

The Iranian government announced in late June that it had allocated a huge budget of $620 million to increase spending on its controversial missile program and the Quds Force, the external wing of the Revolutionary Guard, which has been on the international terrorism list since 2007.

The Iranian parliament said that the budget came to counter US sanctions and congressional measures aimed at classifying the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.