Costa Rica Designates IRGC and Iranian Proxies as Terrorist Groups

Costa Rica has announced the designation as terror groups of three of Iran’s key regional proxies as well as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the bedrock of the Tehran regime.

President Rodrigo Chaves’s administration confirmed on April 9 that, along with the IRGC, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Yemen-based Houthis have been designated as terrorist entities that pose a threat to national security, with an immediate ban on entry for operatives from these groups into Costa Rica. 

According to the Foreign Ministry, the designation will “allow intelligence authorities and judicial bodies to strengthen their prevention, investigation, and prosecution capabilities, acting more decisively against any logistical and financial support networks that may be operating within the country.” Overall, the move is a significant step for a country located in a region long penetrated by the Islamic Republic of Iran. 

Iran’s Malign Reach in the Western Hemisphere

Costa Rica’s designation came on the heels of revelations of an aborted plan by the Venezuelan Defense Ministry to purchase a ballistic missile system from Iran at a cost of $400 million. According to Politico, an internal ministry memo in January 2020 described a plan that was “more extensive and progressed further than previously reported” to allocate funds for the purchase of missiles that would have been able to reach American soil. The plan was ultimately aborted after the U.S. warned the regime of now-ousted President Nicolas Maduro that it was aware of the plan. 

Politico noted that following Maduro’s capture by U.S. forces in January, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that Venezuela could “no longer cozy up to Hezbollah and Iran in our own hemisphere.” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s office issued a separate assessment in March that Venezuela posed a direct threat to the U.S. because of its military ties with Iran.

Among other acts of terror and destabilization in the Western Hemisphere, Iran was responsible for the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in the Argentine capital.

Hezbollah Seeks To Boost Revenues Through Criminal Enterprises in Latin America

Costa Rica’s decision coincides with its “mutual evaluation” — a peer review process conducted by the regional body of the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) framework that assesses whether countries have adequate safeguards against money laundering and terrorist financing.  

Like its neighbors, Costa Rica — designated by the U.S. as a major transit country for narcotics — continues to face significant drug trafficking challenges. As terror finance expert Matthew Levitt noted in October 2025 congressional testimony, U.S. authorities have warned that a cash-strapped Hezbollah is increasingly looking to criminal enterprises, including laundering drug money in Latin America, to boost its finances. Costa Rica’s designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization can help the country’s counternarcotics efforts.

Costa Rica deserves credit for announcing these measures, particularly given its exposure to possible retribution from Iran. Given that Iran has spent 47 years exporting its revolution to the Western Hemisphere, these designations go beyond mere symbolism. The designation of the IRGC and the three regional proxies will equip law enforcement and financial intelligence units with legal tools to detect, disrupt, and prosecute the illicit networks that sustain Iranian-backed terrorism. 

The U.S. should now work with countries in the region that have not yet designated the IRGC, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis as terrorist organizations to follow Costa Rica’s lead. Trump previously urged allies to designate the IRGC and Hezbollah, according to a State Department memo in March. Washington should keep up the pressure.

Toby Dershowitz is a senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Follow FDD on X @FDD.Follow her on X @tobydersh. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.