JCPOA deadlock; the dispute is over whether the IRGC is a terrorist organization

While approximately 27 pages of the text of the JCPOA revival negotiations had been prepared, the disagreement over whether or not the Revolutionary Guard Corps was a terrorist organization led to a deadlock in the negotiations.
In 2019, the United States added the IRGC to its list of foreign terrorist groups as part of its maximum pressure program on the Islamic Republic.

“The unsolved mystery about the IRGC’s terrorist designation is that it technically falls outside the scope of sanctions related to the nuclear deal,” Politico wrote in an article published on Thursday.

The United States, which has imposed numerous other sanctions on Iran, has avoided discussing issues beyond the main framework of the agreement, yet Tehran insists that all issues must be resolved together.

Politico, citing an informed American official, writes: “The United States’ position has always been that Washington will not remove the IRGC from the list of terrorist groups until Iran agrees to take effective steps to mitigate security concerns beyond the JCPOA.”

The informed official also said: "This position will not change, especially with the IRGC's continued threats against Americans in the region. The Biden administration is also facing political resistance within the United States from both the Democratic and Republican parties to keep the IRGC on the list of terrorist groups."

According to the official, due to all these factors, "the Biden administration is very unlikely at this stage to abandon naming within the framework of the JCPOA negotiations."

The revival of the Iran nuclear deal, which was considered imminent just a few months ago, has now become a distant prospect.

Talks to revive the JCPOA also recently ended in limbo due to Russia's request that the country be granted sanctions exemptions for any future trade with Iran.

It is worth noting that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated on Tuesday in a meeting with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "The Biden administration will not accede to Tehran's demand to remove the IRGC from the list of terrorist groups."

Source: Voice of America