U.S. Terrorism Sanctions Must Remain on Iran’s IRGC

Negotiations with Iran remain stalled, reportedly due to a single Iranian demand unrelated to the 2015 nuclear deal: that the United States remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from its Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list. With mounting bipartisan opposition in Congress and concern among U.S. allies in Israel and the Sunni Arab world, the Biden administration is reportedly reconsidering lifting the designation or perhaps maintaining just part of the IRGC on the FTO list. It is critical that the entire IRGC, not just part of it, retain its FTO designation since it continues to meet the U.S. legal criteria for a terrorist organization.

Regardless of whether the IRGC is delisted, the emerging deal is dangerously short and weak and should be rejected.