Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Friday that they "refuse to believe" that Washington will remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, Iran's elite military units) from the list of organizations recognized as terrorist in the United States.
"The IRGC is a terrorist organization that has killed thousands of people, including Americans. We refuse to believe that the United States will remove it from the list of terrorist organizations," the statement said.
"The attempt to remove the IRGC from the list of terrorist organizations is an insult to the victims and contradicts the documented reality supported by unequivocal evidence. We find it hard to believe that the definition of the IRGC as a terrorist organization will be removed in exchange for a promise not to harm Americans," the prime minister and Israeli foreign minister continued.
On March 17, Axios cited three Israeli and two American sources as saying that US President Joe Biden's administration is considering removing the IRGC from the list of organizations recognized as terrorist organizations on US territory. According to its sources, this decision is not directly related to the pending agreement to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the Iranian nuclear program. Nevertheless, the revocation of the IRGC's recognition as a terrorist organization is an issue on which the United States and Iran have not yet been able to reach a consensus.
It is noted that this decision is considered only as a possible one and has not yet been adopted. However, if it is adopted, the US may reserve the right to review the IRGC's status if it considers that Iran is not fulfilling its de-escalation commitments in the region.
In April 2019, the US decided to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its al-Quds Special Operations Forces as foreign terrorist organizations. In response, Iranian authorities added the US Army Central Command to their list of terrorist organizations.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials from TASS