Iran Deal Is Dangerous & IRGC Should Be Designated a Terrorist Organization

The Biden administration has yet to finalize its highly capitulatory iteration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). On Monday, Ned Price, spokesperson for the State Department, said that the U.S. was ready to “return to full JCPOA implementation,” depending on Iran’s compliance. Yet the deal, which is far weaker and more dangerous than Obama’s original pact with the Islamic Republic, has stalled on one key question: the FTO (foreign terrorist organization) designation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).

Despite Biden’s jaw-dropping list of concessions thus far in negotiations, the debate over the FTO designation carries on. This is because Iran has witnessed the Biden administration entertain its demands for over a year. Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told National Review that “the reason we don’t have a deal today is not because of U.S. domestic politics” or issues related to “legal lifting” of the FTO designation. It’s because Iran is “still playing hardball” and the Islamic Republic’s ultra-hardliners are “still pressing their advantage.”

About the Author

Carine Hajjar

Carine Hajjar, a former National Review intern, is a Joseph Rago Fellow at the Wall Street Journal.

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The Biden administration has yet to finalize its highly capitulatory iteration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). On Monday, Ned Price, spokesperson for the State Department, said that the U.S. was ready to “return to full JCPOA implementation,” depending on Iran’s compliance. Yet the deal, which is far weaker and more dangerous than Obama’s original pact with the Islamic Republic, has stalled on one key question: the FTO (foreign terrorist organization) designation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).

Despite Biden’s jaw-dropping list of concessions thus far in negotiations, the debate over the FTO designation carries on. This is because Iran has witnessed the Biden administration entertain its demands for over a year. Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told National Review that “the reason we don’t have a deal today is not because of U.S. domestic politics” or issues related to “legal lifting” of the FTO designation. It’s because Iran is “still playing hardball” and the Islamic Republic’s ultra-hardliners are “still pressing their advantage.”