Iran rejects US request in exchange for removing the Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations
Axios quoted US officials as saying that the White House has in recent days toughened its position on removing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations.
Meanwhile, the Axios report noted that Iranian officials have not agreed to a U.S. request for a public commitment to reducing tensions in the region in exchange for removing the Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations.
The website said: In recent weeks, U.S. envoy to Iran Robert Malley has indirectly negotiated with the Iranians on the IRGC point, via Enrique Mora, the European coordinator for nuclear negotiations in Vienna.
He added that Iran had proposed that the US deliver a special speech pledging to de-escalate, rather than openly disclosing the matter.
A source familiar with the discussions told Reuters that one of the most outstanding issues is Tehran’s insistence that Washington withdraw from the U.S. blacklist of foreign terrorist organizations and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The administration of former President Donald Trump designated the IRGC in 2019, a year after the Republican president unilaterally withdrew from the deal.
Democratic President Joe Biden has signaled his desire to return to the agreement, on the condition that Tehran returns to full compliance with commitments it reneged on following Washington’s withdrawal.
Related to the Vienna negotiations, U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced yesterday that the U.S. and its allies have made progress on Iran’s nuclear talks, but there are still outstanding issues, and it is unclear whether they will be resolved.
Speaking to reporters aboard a US presidential plane as President Joe Biden headed for Brussels, Sullivan said: “It is unclear whether it will be settled or not,” but allies are trying to use diplomacy to relimit Iran’s nuclear program.
It is worth noting that the negotiations that began last April in the Austrian capital reached their final stages, after many months of marathon sessions in which all the remaining parties to the agreement (Germany, France, Britain, Russia, and China) participated with the indirect participation of the representatives of the United States. However, a few points are still pending, most notably the sanctions.
