Biden: US Committed to Keep IRGC on Terror List Even If It Kills Nuclear Deal

Biden threatens war to stop Iran's nuclear arms

In an interview with the Israeli media, President Biden set out his position on the Iran nuclear talks. As expected, these comments seem designed to please Israeli hawks opposed to the talks, and position himself as being tough on Iran.

Biden said that he is willing to kill the Iran deal entirely if it means he’s able to keep the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on the terror watchlist. US officials have repeatedly ruled out removing IRGC from the list in recent months, and have treated the deal as effectively dead as a result.

US officials have questioned this, noting that the blacklisting doesn’t do a lot of good in the first place, and that if the deal is that important this shouldn’t be a roadblock.

Despite the US positioning this as an all-or-nothing proposition, Iran has time and again said the blacklist isn’t a must have for them, and that they’re willing to make a deal without addressing that matter.

Iran wants to keep talking, and that’s been a recurring problem, because the US seems to have treated the rejection of the IRGC desisting as the end of the process, and is seemingly unwilling to address the deal further.

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.