Exclusive to Radio Farda; "The Qassem Soleimani case is the last obstacle to the revival of the JCPOA"
An informed source close to the negotiations to revive the JCPOA in Vienna told Radio Farda that the Islamic Republic government's commitment to halt operational follow-up to the case of the killing of Qassem Soleimani is one of the main conditions for removing the IRGC from the US government's terrorist list.
Referring to Iran's insistence on removing the IRGC from this list, which has become the last obstacle in the nuclear negotiations, the source said that US security agencies have detailed information about Tehran's planning to take action against some former US government officials who are accused of involvement in the killing of Qassem Soleimani, and under such circumstances, it is not possible for Washington to agree to the Islamic Republic's request.
Iranian officials have raised the IRGC's withdrawal as a last-minute request during the talks. On April 29, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the issue had "nothing to do with the JCPOA" and accused Iran of creating problems in the talks to revive the JCPOA by demanding "guarantees on the IRGC."
In recent months, there have been numerous reports of increased threats against Mike Pompeo, the Trump administration's Secretary of State, and Brian Hook, the former US special representative for Iran, and the Biden administration has increased protective measures, especially for Mr. Pompeo.
The Associated Press reported on March 11 that it had obtained documents showing that the US government was spending "two million dollars" per month for 24-hour protection for Mike Pompeo and Brian Hook.
It was previously reported that the US government had asked the Islamic Republic to commit to reducing the level of tension in the region, but a source close to the negotiations told Radio Farda that the US condition has specific axes, including not attacking or harming Americans and US facilities in the region, as well as not harming former US officials.
Referring to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian's recent interview with Islamic Republic TV, in which he emphasized the need to remove the IRGC from the US terrorist list, he said that the Iranian Foreign Minister said in the interview, "When we say IRGC, we mean General Hajj Qassem Soleimani," which was a reference to the US government's condition to stop the operational follow-up to the case of the killing of Qassem Soleimani.
The American website "Axios" also reported on April 22, 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 the report, instead of making a public commitment, Iranian officials have suggested submitting a non-public letter of intent to the US government on this matter.
The killing of Qassem Soleimani, former commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, as well as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, former deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces, in a US drone strike on January 4, 2019 near Baghdad airport, occurred amid political and military tensions between Iran and the United States.
Over the past two years, Iranian government officials have repeatedly emphasized the need to pursue this case, prosecute those involved in the operation that killed Qassem Soleimani, and take "harsh revenge."
In recent days, American media outlets have written in numerous reports that failure to reach a compromise with Iran over the IRGC may cause the Vienna talks to collapse.
In 2019, Donald Trump designated the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, arguing that this military force "actively participates in the financing and encouragement of terrorism as a tool of statecraft" and "is the Iranian government's primary tool in directing and implementing its international campaign of terrorism."
However, Biden administration officials say that "the current situation has not made America safer in any way," and on the contrary, the Revolutionary Guard has "been strengthened" during this period.
In recent days, a wave of domestic opposition has risen in the United States towards reaching an agreement to revive the JCPOA at the cost of removing the IRGC from the list of terrorist organizations.
More than 40 Republican congressmen warned in a letter to their country's State Department about the consequences of removing the IRGC from this list.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid are also openly against the Biden administration's potential decision regarding the IRGC.
This possibility has also had repercussions among Iranians, and two family members of the victims of the downing of the Ukrainian plane by the IRGC wrote a letter to the US President asking him not to remove the Islamic Republic's military institution from the terrorist list.
Source: Radio Farda
