Mike Pompeo: Removing Iran’s IRGC from terror list would be dangerous thing to do

Removing the IRGC from the terrorism blacklist would be “a denial of the basic reality that the IRGC’s core mission is to spread terror,” Pompeo, former national security adviser Robert O’Brien and former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe said in a joint statement.

The three former Trump officials quoted the U.S. Intelligence Community Annual Threat Assessment issued last month, which said that Iran is a direct and indirect threat to U.S. persons and “previously attempted to conduct lethal operations in the United States.”

“These assessments, combined with the IRGC’s lengthy history of killing hundreds of Americans…make it clear: The IRGC is a terrorist organization and should remain labeled as such,” Pompeo, O’Brien and Ratcliffe said.

“The pursuit of an ill-conceived ‘deal’ should not compel American leaders to acquiesce to the demands of a terrorist regime to deny the truth. American lives are at stake, and this is a time to project strength, not weakness.”

The White House and the State Department declined to comment.

But, even if removed from the State Department’s list of Foreign Terror Organizations, the IRGC will remain on a separate terror list and subject to numerous sanctions.

The Biden administration expects Iranian negotiators will be on vacation during the Nowruz holiday, which started on Monday and usually lasts for two weeks, Price hinted.

Source: Axios