TEHRAN, September 26 (RIA Novosti) - The Iranian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that U.S. plans to put the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on a terrorist list are "irresponsible" and "illegal."

The U.S. House of Representatives approved Tuesday a bill toughening sanctions against Iran, and banning the White House from any new nuclear cooperation with Russia and other countries. The draft law also envisions that the IRGC could be put on the list of terrorist organizations.

"Putting the armed forces of a UN member state on a list of terrorist groups is unprecedented and surprising," Mohammad Ali Hosseini, a spokesman for the Iranian ministry, said in a statement.

The 125,000-strong Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is the largest branch of Iran's military, separate from the rest of the army. It is equipped with modern weaponry and controls militia units numbering up to 12 million soldiers.