US Envoy: Iran’s IRGC Won’t Be Removed From Terror List

Says US working closely with Israel, all options are on the table

In new comments Wednesday, US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides ruled out any US move to delist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the terrorist blacklist.

Nides’ comments are new, but US officials have been rejecting Iranian calls for those move on the IRGC for awhile. Some US officials suggested any measure could be considered if Iran offered other concessions, but more recently they seem to reject the idea under any circumstances.

Nides added that the US continues to work closely with Israel on dealing with Iran, and that “all options are on the table.” He added that the US prefers a diplomatic solution.

If one prefers diplomacy, Israel is not a good choice to work with, as many of their leadership are opposed to the deal in general, and support for diplomacy seems, in Israel, to be confined to intelligence officials.

This may be an imperfect estimate of where the US actually stands, however, as an Ambassador to Israel would understandably try to spin the narrative to be more favorable to Israel, and the US position may be less determined to do exactly what Israel prefers, if other opportunities present themselves.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.