Biden will keep the Revolutionary Guards on the terrorist list

US President Joe Biden has decided to keep the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the list of foreign terrorist organisations, a decision he has already notified Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet of and which makes it more difficult to reach a consensus on the nuclear deal.

According to sources quoted by Politico, a source familiar with the matter said that Biden had conveyed his decision to Bennet a month ago, a decision he described as "absolutely final" after Bennet closed off the possibility of making "further concessions" to the Iranians.

The Israeli prime minister confirmed this on his Twitter account, saying he welcomed "the US Administration's decision to keep Iran's IRGC on the Foreign Terrorist Organisation list, where it belongs". 

Bennet also amply demonstrated his friendship with Biden and said he was confident that "the president will not remove the IRGC from the list of terrorist groups". 

This comes at a time of heightened tension in Iran following the assassination of Colonel Hassan Sayyad, a senior member of the Revolutionary Guard. Tehran accuses Israeli intelligence services of being behind the assassination. For this reason, the Iranian Armed Forces assured that Israel will suffer "terrible consequences".

This new rift between Iran and Israel has direct repercussions on the negotiation of the Nuclear Agreement, negotiations that have been at a standstill since 2018 when former president Donald Trump decided to unilaterally abandon the pact. For Iran, whether these negotiations will be fruitful now depends directly on the United States ceasing to designate its Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group, something that Biden has not reversed. 

Since then, attempts to try to restart the agreement have been incessant, but have been unable to reach a solution. Now, with the Revolutionary Guards remaining on the list of terrorist organisations, negotiations will remain at an impasse of no return.

Israel, a key US ally, plays an important role. Tel Aviv has been adamantly opposed to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's removal from the list of terrorist organisations, and in the hypothetical event that this happens, it is more than likely to interfere with good US-Israeli relations.

Biden administration officials have spent more than a year trying to get a return to the Nuclear Pact implemented. Adding to the already diplomatic crisis in the US after major cuts and dismissals among diplomats, Iran's sine qua non for negotiations to break the stalemate is that the Guard be allowed to be designated as terrorists, further complicating the process of reaching a possible solution. 

Washington tries to defend its position by arguing that the IRGC's terrorist designation was never part of the nuclear deal itself. It should be recalled that the US exit from the agreement took place in 2018, a year before the official designation as a terrorist group. 

A US official told Publico that "the US position has been that unless Iran agrees to take certain steps to mitigate security concerns beyond the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Washington will not lift the terrorist designation, which itself is beyond the JCPOA." He further stressed that the administration would not change its position "especially given the IRGC's continued threats against [Americans]".

The designation of the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organisation means that any country or organisation that negotiates with it will be charged with sponsoring terrorism. The official statement accusing the IRGC of being terrorists indicated that "this unprecedented step, led by the State Department, recognises the reality that Iran is not only a state sponsor of terrorism, but that the Revolutionary Guard actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a political tool".

Other US officials believe that listing the IRGC as a terrorist organisation is also not so different from its previous status, as the Guard was under significant sanctions, that it would be "worthwhile" to remove this label in order for the Nuclear Pact to see the light of day. 

Although these sanctions have had an impact on the country's economy, they have not been able to curb Iran's nuclear programme as it has continued. Some estimates warn that Tehran could accumulate more than enough material to create a nuclear bomb within weeks. According to the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Mariano Grossi, Iran has accumulated 42 kilos of 60 % enriched uranium, a situation that brings the Shiite country ever closer to becoming a potential nuclear power.

With this measure, Washington has also sought to boost Iran's isolation in the region and send a clear message: the United States will not tolerate Tehran's support for groups that contribute to the destabilisation of the Middle East, a geopolitical situation to which US foreign policy has also contributed.

Americas Coordinator: José Antonio Sierra.