The Bush administration is set to impose a new round of unilateral sanctions against Iran. The White House has already announced its plans to designate Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its elite Quds Force as a supporter of terrorism. Critics call the move the latest in a series of parallels to the lead-up of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The Washington Post reports the sanctions package marks the first time the U.S. has tried to isolate or punish another country’s military. It’s the broadest set of punitive measures against Iran since the 1979 takeover of the American embassy. Testifying Wednesday on Capitol Hill, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Iran represents the greatest security challenge to U.S. interests in the Middle East.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: “We are continuing to designate Iranian entities when we find that they are trying to use the financial system for their ill-gotten gains, and it is why we are trying to strengthen the defense capacity of our traditional allies in the Gulf, because working together with them, we can be a — we can help be a barrier to further Iranian aggression in the region.”