Lifting sanctions on Iran’s IRGC out of question, says US but Israel has its reservations
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Sulaiman
- . March 28, 2022
- . Update: March 28, 2022 11:38 pm
Iran–Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) of Iran will not be delisted by United States’ list of Foreign Terrorist Organisation in direction of reviving Iran nuclear deal, US special envoy leading the negotiations Robert Malley clarified on Sunday. With this Washington has made it clear that IRGC will not enjoy waived off sanctions from US, as has been demanded by Tehran in order to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, formally also called as JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).
“The IRGC will remain sanctioned under US law and our perception of the IRGC will remain,” Mr. Malley said at the Doha Forum international conference in the Qatari capital. Iran has time and again insisted that in order for it to join the nuclear deal and revive the agreement IRGC must be taken off by US from its terrorist list. Washington and allies, though are keen to quickly land the negotiations to the final line, the demands by Tehran are clearly not gaining any acknowledgement.
The nuclear deal is crucial for curbing the aggressive nuclear programme of Iran. After US exited the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 under then US President Donald Trump, economic sanctions were re-imposed on Iran triggering it to exit the deal as well and violate all conditions under the deal that was formulated under former president of United States Barack Obama. Since President Joe Biden took the office, his administration is keen to revive the deal under concerns raised by rapidly progressing nuclear programme in Iran. Tehran has already reached a level of uranium enrichment that is sufficient to develop a nuclear weapon, creating a high alarm situation.
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Senior adviser to supreme leader of Iran said that though deal between world powers and Iran is imminent, it is only possible through evident show of political will by United States. “Yes, it’s imminent. It depends on the political view of the United States,” Kamal Kharrazi said. Stressing on IRGC’s condition, he said, “IRGC is a national army and a national army being listed as a terrorist group certainly is not acceptable.”
Meanwhile, Israel has maintained its strong position against the deal citing its concerns that the deal would do very little to arrest Iran’s nuclear programme. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett shared his concerns over delisting of IRGC by US in recent press conference in Jerusalem with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “Their proxy, the Houthis, just this weekend carried out a horrific attack on Saudi Arabia,” Bennett said. “I hope the US will hear the concerned voices from the region, Israel’s and others, on this very important issue.”
Last week Israel had warned US negotiators that delisting IRGC from foreign terrorist organisations list by US would be a “too high a price” to pay for supposed assurance by Iran to de-escalate terrorist activities in region. Israel has urged US to keep into accord concerns of its regional allies over terms and conditions of nuclear deal.
