Joe Biden reluctant to lift terrorist organization designation from Iran's Revolutionary Guards

The US and Iran are close to reaching an agreement to restore the 2015 nuclear deal after months of negotiations in Vienna. However, US President Joe Biden has expressed reluctance toward one of the outstanding issues between the two countries in order to reach the deal.

Biden has expressed reluctance regarding one of the outstanding issues between Tehran and Washington that may lead to an agreement from months of talks – to remove Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards from the foreign terrorist organization designation. Tehran is demanding that the designation be removed before a deal can be reached.

The US, under Biden’s immediate predecessor Donald Trump, withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, imposing sanctions on Iran instead. Washington has included the IRGC as a foreign terrorist designation long before the Trump administration started its maximum pressure campaign on Iran.

Tehran claims the FTO designation to the IRGC is part of the pressure campaign. However, Washington has pushed back, saying that the FTO designation to the IRGC is not related to the nuclear program.

“If Iran wants sanctions lifting that goes beyond the JCPOA, they’ll need to address concerns of ours that go beyond the JCPOA,” said US State Department spokesperson Ned Price. Price added that Tehran must negotiate “in good faith” and reciprocity.

The US leader is keen to return to the deal, provided that Iran also adheres to the conditions of the deal. To note, Iran has insisted that its nuclear program would be used for peaceful purposes. The talks have since come to a standstill due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Biden is also tackling the ongoing concerns of inflation, which many Republicans have looked to blame the US leader for. Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney called on Biden to reduce the growing economic pressure by getting rid of his advisers that the lawmaker described as “woke.” Romney made the call for Biden in a piece for the Wall Street Journal.

“A new set of priorities requires a new set of principles,” wrote Romney. “President Biden needs to ditch his woke advisers and surround himself with people who want to get the economy working again.”