Axios: Iran does not agree to US condition to remove IRGC from terrorism list

On Wednesday evening, the American website Axios reported, citing "two informed American sources" and an Israeli official, that the Islamic Republic of Iran has not accepted the US condition to remove the name of the Revolutionary Guard Corps from the list of terrorist organizations.

According to Axios, while the agreement to revive the JCPOA is "almost complete," Iran's request for the US president to remove the IRGC from the terrorist list is one of the last remaining differences between Tehran and Washington.

According to the report, Robert Malley, the US special representative for Iran, discussed Iran's request to remove the IRGC from the terror list in indirect talks with Iran conducted by Enrique Mora, the EU's coordinator for diplomatic affairs.

Axios added that one of the proposals put forward by the US in the indirect talks was that Iran commit to reducing tensions in the region.

But two informed American sources and an Israeli official told the Israeli reporter for the Axios website that instead of committing to a public announcement that tensions in the region would decrease, Iranian officials have proposed submitting a non-public, implicit letter to the US government on the matter.

A senior US State Department official, without commenting on the report, told Axios that Washington's position has not changed and it is still awaiting Iran's response.

The senior American official, whose name was not disclosed, added that Washington is waiting until the end of the Iranian Nowruz holiday, although it hopes to receive Iran's response sooner.

On the other hand, Axios quoted American officials as saying that as time goes on, the Joe Biden administration is becoming concerned about domestic positions within the United States regarding the revival of the JCPOA and understands that an agreement at the cost of removing the IRGC from the terror list will cause domestic problems for the government.

Meanwhile, a White House National Security Council spokesman said that Mr. Biden is still willing to restore the US membership in the JCPOA to protect US national interests and if Iran fully returns to its nuclear commitments. But the responsibility to close the gaps and gaps seen in the Vienna talks lies with Iran.

Ned Price, a spokesman for the US State Department, emphasized on April 2 that the Joe Biden administration has long been discussing the possibility of the Vienna talks failing with France, Germany, Britain, Israel, and the Persian Gulf emirates in order to prepare possible alternative scenarios.

Before Axios reported that Iran had not accepted the US condition to remove the IRGC from the terror list, the American newspaper Wall Street Journal had also written on April 2nd that this issue is now the most serious obstacle to the revival of the JCPOA, and that Israel and the Persian Gulf emirates have pressured the US not to agree to remove the IRGC from the terror list.

Senior US officials told the Wall Street Journal that failure to reach a compromise with Iran over the IRGC could lead to the collapse of the Vienna talks.

American media reported that Robert Malley's meeting in Congress to provide explanations about the Vienna talks was met with strong opposition from Republicans, and a number of Democrats, in alliance with Republicans, were extremely angry at Mr. Malley's explanations about the possibility of removing the IRGC from the terror list, and after leaving the meeting, they shared the contents of the meeting with the media.

Since the beginning of this week, a wave of domestic opposition has been rising in the United States towards reaching an agreement to revive the JCPOA at the cost of removing the IRGC from the terror list.

More than 40 Republican congressmen warned in a letter to their country's State Department about the consequences of removing the IRGC from the terror list.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid have openly taken a stance against the Biden administration's possible decision regarding the IRGC in recent days.

Mr. Bennett has said in several speeches this week that it is difficult for Israel to believe that the United States would remove the name of the IRGC, "one of the world's largest terrorist institutions," from the terror list in exchange for "an empty promise from a regime that has shed American blood."

On the other hand, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who had traveled to Damascus on April 25 on an unannounced trip, repeated his recent remarks during a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying, "We have come very close to an agreement in the Vienna talks."

He also said earlier this week that Iran, through Enrique Moura, "has presented initiatives to the American side regarding the very important issues remaining in the Vienna talks, and now it is America's duty to demonstrate its goodwill."

In his speech on April 1, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Khamenei, openly supported the Iranian diplomatic team's continued efforts to reach an agreement to revive the JCPOA, saying that he personally had no problem with continuing these efforts. However, he did not mention the problems that have arisen in the way of revitalizing the agreement.

On April 9, 2019, Donald Trump wrote in a statement that “the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the Iranian government’s primary tool for directing and executing its campaign of international terrorism,” and that the “unprecedented US step” in designating the Corps as a terrorist organization “confirms the fact that not only is Iran a state sponsor of terrorism, but the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps actively participates in terrorism as a state tool, financing and promoting terror.”

Mr. Trump added that "this action sends a clear message to Tehran that its support for terrorism has severe consequences, and we will continue to press it until it ceases its malign and lawless behavior."

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said earlier this week that the claim that the previous US administration's actions had reduced the IRGC's operations and aggressive behavior was not true, and that the situation that has arisen has not made America safer in any way. On the contrary, the IRGC has been strengthened and its budget has doubled.

Source: Radio Farda