Iran and the US are negotiating the appointment of the IRGC with the help of the European coordinator of nuclear talks.
Tehran, Iran – The issue of a “terror” designation for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has been at the heart of ongoing efforts to revive the country’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.
When European Union negotiation coordinator Enrique Mora met with Iranian officials in Tehran on Sunday, discourse there and elsewhere was dominated by the question of whether the United States will remove its IRGC’s “foreign terrorist organization” (FTO) designation .
Mora and Iran’s chief negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, exchanged views during their meeting and agreed to keep in touch. Mora then met with Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian.
Both Iranian officials told him that if the American side was “realistic,” an agreement could be reached to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), as the agreement is formally called.
Mora will soon travel to Washington, where he will meet with American officials on Monday.
In an interview with state television on Saturday, Amirabdollahian confirmed that the appointment by the FTO was the main remaining obstacle to an agreement, along with sanctions against IRGC subsidiaries and entities.
The diplomat said senior IRGC commanders had told him talks should not be bogged down by the issue of naming if an agreement was within reach, but he vowed that despite this “self-sacrifice” he would make no concessions on the issue .
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The issue of terrorist designation was also discussed at the Doha Forum’s international conference on Sunday, which was attended by both Iranian and American officials.
Former Iranian Foreign Minister Khamal Kharzi told the forum that the designation had to be removed and that several IRGC entities had to be delisted as they were an integral part of Iran’s economy.
After Kharzi, US special envoy for Iran Robert Malley said the final hurdles were difficult to clear and he was not confident an agreement was imminent, but a restored JCPOA would benefit Iran, the US and the region.
He also noted that even if the FTO designation is removed, other designations targeting the IRGC will remain.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was questioned about the appointment of the IRGC during a press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid.
When asked if the IRGC was a “foreign terrorist organization,” Blinken said it was “probably the most designated organization — one way or another — in the world among the organizations we’ve designated, including classification as.” foreign terrorist organization”.
Lapid was more direct, unequivocally calling the IRGC a “terrorist organization that should be treated as such,” adding that the IRGC has “proxies” across the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
Both reiterated their commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The top US diplomat said “returning to full implementation” of the nuclear deal is “the best way” to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear program since the US unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, but has pledged it will never seek a nuclear weapon.