US calls for keeping Iran’s Revolutionary Guard on terror lists
In an urgent letter to U.S. President Joe Biden, 14 Republican senators stressed the need to keep the Iranian Revolutionary Guard on the list of terrorist organizations, mentioning the involvement of that Iranian organization in terrorist activities, in addition to its attempts to assassinate American officials on American soil.
In their letter to Biden, the senators noted that the Revolutionary Guard is responsible for killing at least 600 U.S. troops in Iraq, launching numerous attacks on U.S. forces by providing lethal weapons to Shiite militias, and attempts by the Revolutionary Guard to assassinate U.S. politicians and officials, including an attempt to assassinate former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, over U.S. soil.
14 deputies reject
According to US reports, the 14 American senators who signed the letter described removing the Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations as a grave mistake by the US administration, in addition to a betrayal of US partners and allies in the region.
American representatives considered that there is a state of concern among Washington’s allies and partners about the reduction of the American presence in the region, and that the agreement with Iran will allow Tehran access to the financial resources that the Iranian regime will use through its terrorist militia acting by proxy to destabilize the region.
Unchanging violent behavior
The letter stressed that the IRGC has not made any significant changes in its violent behavior and continues to participate strongly in terrorist movements in the region and around the world.
The 14 senators are asking President Biden to state explicitly whether he believes the Revolutionary Guard will no longer engage in terrorist activities and not threaten U.S. security.
According to reports, the letter to Biden was signed by 14 Republican Senators, including Lindsey Graham, John F. Kennedy, Tim Scott, Bill Hagerty, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Roger Marshall, Thom Tillis, Bill Cassidy, Roger Wicker and Ted Cruz.
According to Axios, Republican senators called on Democratic President Joe Biden to rule out any possibility of removing the Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations.
Against removing the Revolutionary Guard from terrorist lists
The United States has been speaking out against any attempt to remove the IRGC from the list of terrorist organizations in the past few days, after news leaked about a possible move by the Biden administration to remove the IRGC from the list of terrorist organizations, which was strongly rejected by a number of Democratic senators and Pentagon officials in recent days.
Reports indicate that the situation is strengthening day by day against Iranian terrorism in the United States, with Democratic Senator Chris Murphy returning to warn of the threat of Iran, although he announced last week his approval to remove the Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations, describing it as unimportant.
Dangerous and destabilizing player
“The IRGC remains a dangerous and destabilizing actor, and there are deep concerns about its possible removal from the list of terrorist groups”, said Democratic Senator Chris Koons.
According to Axios, US sources said that Biden has not yet decided whether to remove the Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations, saying: “US State Department officials see removing the Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations as the only way to revive the nuclear deal, but senior Pentagon officials are strongly opposed”.
For his part, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, rejected the issue of removing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from the list of terrorist organizations, stressing that the Revolutionary Guard is a terrorist organization and I do not support removing it from the list of terrorist organizations.
Rejected transaction
According to the Washington Post, an unnamed official said that even if a lucrative deal were struck to revive the deal, Washington would not remove the IRGC from its terror lists, noting that the matter could be addressed separately.
The US official said: The Biden administration will not remove the IRGC from the U.S. terror list, though it could be a break in a deal for Tehran to sign a renewed nuclear deal, asserting that “the Iranians know our views”.
Washington has no plans to accept Tehran’s request to remove the IRGC from the US list of foreign terrorist organizations as a condition for restoring the 2015 deal, even if that means jeopardizing the agreement’s signing, the paper said, adding that even if a nuclear deal is reached, the president will abide by basic principles.
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated his view that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps was a terrorist group, noting that he would “not be overly optimistic” about signing a nuclear deal, the paper reported.
Terrorist activities
The Washington Post report asserts that Washington is not backing away from negotiations, and that there is hope that a compromise can still be found to allow the agreement to be signed, noting that while the United States does not seem to want to write off the IRGC as part of a possible nuclear deal, the issue could be treated as a separate matter if Tehran shows willingness to halt its involvement in terrorist activities that have killed thousands around the world so far, including American citizens.
The IRGC, a militant militia closely associated with Iran’s Supreme Leader, was designated a foreign terrorist organization by former President Donald Trump’s administration after its 2018 withdrawal from the nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The IRGC is still officially on the US terrorist lists because of Iran’s actions in supporting terrorist militias in the region, especially the Houthis in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iraq.
The top Pentagon general said last Thursday: He opposes any possible attempt to remove the IRGC from the list of terrorist organizations.
