Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed Tuesday there remained an "ongoing threat" from Iranian militants against past and present American officials.
Blinken, appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was asked about Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and whether it had targeted U.S. officials.
"Iran is trying to murder former Trump Admin officials while the Biden Admin is trying to do a deal that would give them billions of dollars. I asked Sec. Blinken 3 times if they've at least asked Iran to stop those terror plots, and if Iran said no. He refused to answer," Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted Tuesday.
During the hearing, Cruz asked Blinken whether it was true the IRGC was "actively trying to murder former senior officials of the United States."
"I'm not sure what I can say in an open setting," Blinken said. "Let me say generically, there is an ongoing threat against American officials both present and past."
It was reported last month that the State Department was paying more than $2 million per month to provide 24-hour security to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a former top aide, both of whom face "serious and credible" threats from Iran.
"Is it true the State Department is spending roughly $2 million a month to protect those affected?" Cruz asked Blinken.
"We are making — we will — we are making sure, and we will make sure for as long as it takes that we're protecting our people, past and former if they're, if they're under threat," Blinken said.
Cruz then asked the secretary whether the department specifically had asked the IRGC to stop their attacks and threats against U.S. officials.
"Of course, within the context of any engagements that we have directly or indirectly with Iranians, one of the strong messages we sent to them is they need to stop targeting our people, period," Blinken said.
"Did they tell you no?" Cruz asked.
"Again, I’m not going to characterize what they said, they know what they would need to do to address this problem," Blinken said. "And that's pretty straightforward."
Amid talks for a new nuclear agreement, Iran has pushed for the IRGC to be removed from the foreign terrorist organization designation.
"IRGC is a national army and a national army being listed as a terrorist group certainly is not acceptable," Iranian former foreign affairs minister Sayyid Kamal Kharazi said in March.
Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., asked Blinken on Tuesday whether the State Department was committed to not lifting the designation.
"The only way I can see it being lifted is if Iran takes steps necessary to justify the lifting of that designation," Blinken said. "So, it knows what it would have to do in order to see that happen."
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