President Joe Biden is refusing to concede to Iran's demands that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) be removed from the United States' designated list of terrorist organizations, which may be a deal-breaker to renew the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.
And, writes David Ignatius in an opinion piece for The Washington Post, the president is right for not budging on that stance.
"The onus is on Iran as to whether we have a nuclear deal," a senior administration official told Ignatius, adding that Biden does not intend to concede, even though it could jeopardize the deal.
"The president will stick to core principles," the official, who was not named, added. "The Iranians know our views.”
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told NBC News' Andrea Mitchell that he agrees that the IRGC is a terrorist organization, and said he's not "overly optimistic" that the nuclear agreement will be finalized.
Several European countries are urging the United States to reach a compromise to resurrect the deal, which ended when former President Donald Trump decertified the United States from the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
During a Save America rally in Michigan last weekend, Trump slammed the current administration as being "so stupid" for revisiting the deal and allowing Russia to lead the talks while using China as a backup.
Trump's State Department designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019, Ignatius writes.
Some U.S. senior military officials argued that the designation was not necessary and that it could prove counterproductive.
However, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have since argued that the IRGC should remain on the list unless its behavior improved. Dropping the designation, and sanctions that have been imposed, could also strain U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, officials fear.
Ignatius said the administration isn't quitting on the negotiations and may even reach an agreement that will keep Biden from rewarding the IRGC for having "killed thousands around the world, including hundreds of Americans." He added that the IRGC "needs to earn its way off the list."
Biden reportedly views the issue about the IRGC as being separate from the talks on the nuclear agreement, and he and other U.S. officials believe the group and its proxy organizations threaten the safety of U.S. personnel and partners in the Middle East.
As recently as last Thursday, four U.S. service members were injured in an attack believed to have been backed by Iran in eastern Syria, Ignatius noted.
Meanwhile, Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testified during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee that he believes the "IRGC Quds Force to be a terrorist organization," and that he does not want it removed from the U.S. terrorist list.
European nations are suggesting a compromise that would involve an Iranian pledge to stop attacking Americans and to de-escalate tensions in the region, but Ignatius said the issue "can't be just a bargaining chip."
"If Iran is serious about curbing the violence and intimidation the IRGC has spread throughout the region, then it needs to say so clearly and emphatically — not as a side deal to a nuclear pact," he wrote.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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