"Israel" pleads with US to keep IRGC on 'terror list'

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On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid released a joint statement urging the Biden administration not to remove the Islamic Revolution's Guard Corps (IRGC) off the United States' register of foreign "terrorist" organizations.

The US administration is currently considering the removal of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps from its terror blacklist in exchange for a commitment from Iran to "de-escalate" in the region, according to Axios on Wednesday.

One of the remaining points in the Vienna Talks is the removal of IRGC's designation as a "terror" group. The "terror" designation means that criminal penalties would be imposed on anyone doing business with any individual or entity connected to the IRGC.

However, since the IRGC designation is not related to the nuclear deal, there would have to be an agreement separate from the JCPOA, "Israel" Hayom reported. In order to get around this, according to the  Israeli media, one idea being discussed by Biden's administration is for the US to reserve the so-called right to redesignate the IRGC if Washington believes Iran did not abide by its pledge to de-escalate in the region.

In their statement, Bennett and Lapid claimed, "The Iranian Revolutionary Guards are Hezbollah in Lebanon, they are Islamic Jihad in Gaza, they are the Houthis in Yemen, they are the militias in Iraq," i.e. all resistance movements in the region, adding that "the fight against terrorism is a global one, a shared mission of the entire world. We believe that the United States will not abandon its closest allies in exchange for empty promises from terrorists."

They alleged that the IRGC is "responsible" for attacks on American forces and civilians throughout the last year, adding that the IRGC allegedly had plans to assassinate senior American officials.

The Israeli pair, ignoring their own methods of oppression against the Palestinians and without presenting any evidence whatsoever, went too far claiming that the IRGC is responsible for "brutally oppressing Iranian civilians."

The State Department said that no decision has been made on the IRGC designation, but if that does happen, it will remain on a separate "terror" list and subject to numerous sanctions. The US will still have a "panoply of tools to counter Iran’s destabilizing activities," the source said. 

As part of the Republicans' uproar regarding such a move, a US official said it's clear that Trump and Pence's withdrawal from the JCPOA and the maximum pressure campaign have been "a clear failure," because "Iran has only increased its nuclear activity and regional aggression." 

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Just today, Israeli occupation forces, who took the life of a teenager in Palestine using live bullets, walked out free without any indictment or charges.

Ammar Abu Afifa, 19 years old, was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces who later admitted the young boy was not engaging in any "threatening acts" that could have provoked the break of fire. 

The soldiers were not prosecuted and offered no explanation for their unprovoked violence, which is the usual case with IOF convictions under the Israeli occupation.