Biden to Maintain IRGC's Foreign Terrorist Designation, Report Says
President Joe Biden will maintain Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization, removing the designation as a negotiating chip in a renewed nuclear deal with Iran, Politico reported May 24. The designation, which subjects the group to certain sanctions, was made as part of the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign against Iran. Naftali Bennett, Israel’s prime minister, applauded the decision in a May 24 tweet. “I welcome the decision by the US Administration to keep Iran’s IRGC on the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list -- which is where it belongs.”
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The State Department, which maintains the list of FTOs, declined to say whether Biden has made a final decision on the IRGC. Spokesperson Ned Price said the administration still wants Iran to return fully to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and would be willing to lift some sanctions if an agreement is reached. "We’ve been asked this question repeatedly over the course of recent weeks. We have not weighed in, and I’ll continue to toe that line," Price said May 24. “Now, the precise dynamics of potential sanctions lifting that would go along with it, that has been a subject of discussions with our Iranian counterparts."