Iran talks raise possibility of IRGC losing ‘terrorist’ designation

WASHINGTON: US conservatives and Israel stepped up pressure this week against the possibility that an agreement to restore the Iran nuclear deal could see Washington drop its "terrorist group" designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The IRGC, one of the most powerful forces in Iran, was officially branded a "foreign terrorist organisation" by the administration of president Donald Trump in 2019, a move that came on top of his decision the previous year to repudiate the 2015 six-party accord that put limits on Iran’s nuclear programme.

Sources close to the negotiations in Vienna have said that one of Tehran’s conditions to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was the removal of the largely symbolic designation, which equates the Revolutionary Guards with the Islamic State and al-Qaeda.

The administration of President Joe Biden has not acknowledged the issue, but has made clear it hopes to restore the agreement, which seeks to block Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

Israel, which has opposed the JCPOA, strongly criticized on Friday the possibility that the designation will be dropped. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement that the IRGC was behind violent groups in Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza.