14 US Senators: Removing IRGC from terrorist list is a betrayal of allies
In a letter addressed to Joe Biden, 14 American lawmakers called the removal of the Revolutionary Guard Corps from the country's list of terrorist organizations a "betrayal of allies and partners" and recalled the actions of the Corps in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.
Fourteen American lawmakers have sent a letter to the president of the country warning him to remove the IRGC from the list of terrorist organizations.
They called such a decision “deeply wrong” and a “betrayal of America’s partners and allies.”
Removing the IRGC from the US list of terrorist organizations is one of Iran's key demands for the revival of the nuclear agreement with the country (JCPOA).
The letter was sent at a time when, according to some reports, the Biden administration is considering removing the IRGC from this list.
The authors of the letter have pointed out that removing the name of an entity that "continues to commit terrorist acts" will show the world that such designations are a "political tool" in the hands of the US government, which it can change whenever necessary to serve its "political or commercial interests."
The letter refers to the actions of the Revolutionary Guard Corps in Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain, and the senators hold the Corps responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American troops in Iraq. John Kennedy, Ted Cruz, and Lindsey Graham are among the signatories of the letter.
Last week, Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, called the IRGC's overseas force (Quds) a terrorist organization during a question-and-answer session in the US Senate and opposed removing its name from the list of terrorist organizations.
After that, US State Department spokeswoman Jalena Porter announced that Joe Biden, like Mark Milley, believes that “the Quds Force of the Revolutionary Guard is a terrorist organization.”
Biden's efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which aims to limit the country's nuclear activities in a way that prevents it from producing a nuclear bomb, have raised concerns from both rival parties in the United States (Democrats and Republicans).
The US withdrew from the deal in 2018 during the presidency of Donald Trump, and Iran gradually reduced its commitments to the deal. With the Biden administration coming to power, the US initiated talks to revive the deal.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned in an interview with NBC News last week that “time is running out.” He stated that despite all the efforts made so far and despite his belief that the US security situation would improve if the JCPOA were revived, these negotiations have not yet reached a conclusion.
Blinken also emphasized that he is not optimistic about the negotiations coming to an end.
Source: DW
