Biden Administration Must Not Revoke IRGC’s FTO Designation

(New York, N.Y.) — Iran is reportedly demanding that the U.S. drop its designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) as a precondition to restoring the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Yielding to this outrageous demand would violate a promise made by U.S. officials presently serving in the Biden Administration. In 2015, for example, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl, then-Vice President Biden’s national security adviser, assured skeptics that “none of our tools” to combat Iran’s “support for terrorism … fall away as a consequence of this agreement.” Lifting the IRGC’s FTO designation to restore the JCPOA would, however, strip the U.S. of a key anti-terror measure. 

The IRGC and its Quds Force have supported militants and carried out terrorism around the world, including in Afghanistan, Argentina, Austria, Bahrain, Germany, India, Iraq, Israel, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and the United States. It orchestrated the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Argentina and the attempted assassination of Saudi Arabia’s envoy to the U.S. at a Washington, DC restaurant. The current commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force has threatened to kill Americans in America, and there is enough evidence of IRGC plots to assassinate former senior U.S. officials on American soil that federal security details have been provided for these public servants long after they left office. The IRGC has also been a source of funding, weapons, and training to Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In 2019, the Department of State said that “the IRGC, with the support of the Iranian government, has engaged in terrorist activity since its inception 40 years ago.” 

The FTO designation is legally distinct from other counterterrorism designations like Executive Order 13224. Specifically, unlike Executive Order 13224, the FTO designation imposes immigration restrictions on members of the organization simply by virtue of their membership. The FTO sanction institutes a criminal prohibition on knowingly providing material support or resources to the designated organization. The FTO designation also provides support in civil litigation to victims of these terrorist organizations. 

United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) Chairman Senator Joseph I. Lieberman (I-CT) and CEO Ambassador Mark D. Wallace stated: 

“The Iranian regime has lied to the international community for decades. It has never demonstrated a capacity or willingness to fulfill its obligations. It is foolhardy to make any concessions to these terrorists in exchange for empty public pledges to deescalate which they will not keep. Sanctions relief must be based on verifiable and permanent changes in behavior. 

“A soft approach to combating terrorism invites terror against America and our allies. The Biden Administration needs to only look at its February 2021 delisting of the Houthis, an IRGC terror affiliate, as an FTO. Since then, the Houthis have repeatedly and indiscriminately targeted civilians in the U.A.E. and Saudi Arabia, putting U.S. forces in jeopardy as well. We can expect a similar outcome if the U.S. retreats from a principled position against the IRGC. 

“The delisting of the IRGC as an FTO would also set a troubling precedent because it risks cheapening the designation, which is based on behavior. It also makes no sense as a matter of counterterrorism policy when IRGC proxies, like Hezbollah, will remain on the FTO list, while the IRGC from which Hezbollah’s manpower, money, and materiel flow will be delisted. 

“Whether the Biden Administration sees it or not, Iran is seeking to shatter the non-nuclear sanctions architecture which has been supported by Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. Sanctions related to terrorism, missile proliferation, and human rights should only be lifted when there is a tangible change in Iranian entities’ behavior on the ground. In so doing, President Biden can keep his campaign promise to continue using sanctions to target ‘Iran’s human rights abuses, support for terrorism and ballistic missile program.’ If he chooses to ease restrictions on terrorists, America and its allies should brace for an increase in Iran’s destructive behavior. 

“We urge the Biden Administration to refuse to delist the IRGC as an FTO or make any compromises regarding its status on that list—including through licenses. Doing so would send a terrible message to the victims of Iranian terrorism and U.S. allies and partners in the Middle East, and would endanger American lives.” 

To read UANI’s resource Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), please click here. 

To read UANI’s profile on the Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC Hossein Salami, please click here. 

To read UANI’s profile on the Commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force Esmail Ghaani, please click here.

To read UANI’s profile on the Deputy Commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh, please click here. 

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