Republican Representatives Send Letter to Blinken to Keep IRGC on Terrorist Groups List

A number of Republican representatives in the U.S. Congress have sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanding that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) remain on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations.The letter, coordinated by Scott Franklin, a representative from Florida in the House of Representatives, was drafted following reports that the Joe Biden administration was considering removing the IRGC from the U.S. terrorist groups list.

In response to the Biden administration’s decision, Mr. Franklin stated that “the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is currently one of the most dangerous terrorist groups in the world.”

He added that the IRGC is “responsible through its support for terrorism for the deaths of countless innocent civilians and at least 600 American service members.”

This U.S. Congress member said the IRGC “has consistently sought to destroy our partners and allies in the region, particularly Israel, and has been an obstacle to peace in the Middle East for several decades.”

In 2019, Donald Trump placed the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the list of terrorist organizations, arguing that this Iranian military group “actively participates in financing and promoting terrorism as a tool of statecraft” and “is the primary instrument of Iran’s government in directing and executing its international campaign of terrorism.”

Mr. Franklin told the Biden administration that it “has no right whatsoever” to “legitimize this terrorist regime.”

In the letter, the signatories wrote to Antony Blinken: “It is essential that we stand with our allies and partner nations and ensure that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps does not benefit from the lifting of sanctions. Removal from the terrorist groups list would give them greater freedom to escalate their malicious activities.”

These Congress members added: “We oppose any decision that would legitimize the IRGC and allow them to further threaten democracy and freedom around the world.”

Jen Psaki, White House spokesperson, had implicitly defended the idea of removing the IRGC from the U.S. terrorist list in a press briefing in late 2021, stating that the current situation has not made America safer.

When asked by reporters about the possibility of deleting the IRGC from the list of terrorist organizations from the American government’s perspective, Psaki said negotiations are currently ongoing.

Without referring to details of the Biden administration’s review of this issue, she added that it should be noted that “the current situation has in no way made America safer” and conversely, the IRGC “has been strengthened.”

The website Axios and news agency Reuters reported last week that the United States is considering the possibility of removing the IRGC from the terrorist list in exchange for Iran’s commitment to reducing tensions in the region.

Removing the IRGC from the U.S. terrorist list has been one of two strict conditions of the governments of Hassan Rouhani and Ebrahim Raisi, presidents of the Islamic Republic of Iran, during the eleven-month Vienna negotiations.

Source: Radio Farda