US Won't Drop IRGC Sanctions In Return for Iranian Return to JCPOA, State Dept. Says
The U.S. won't remove sanctions from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in return for Iran's return to compliance under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters Aug. 15. Price said the U.S. is still willing to pursue a "mutual return to compliance" to the JCPOA, but Iran must drop some of its "extraneous" demands that "go beyond" the scope of the nuclear talks, including a request for the U.S. to lift IRGC's designation as a foreign terrorist organization.
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"They have no place in the discussions regarding a potential return to compliance with the JCPOA," Price said of the IRGC sanctions. "If Iran wants the sanctions lifted, they will need to alter their underlying conduct, they will need to change the dangerous activities that gave rise to the sanctions in the first place."
Price's comments came days after Politico reported that the U.S. is "prepared to make greater concessions than expected to secure a deal" with Iran, including by removing sanctions from the IRGC. That same day, Robert Mallley, the U.S.'s special envoy for Iran, said the U.S. has "not engaged in any negotiation about changing due diligence, know-your-customer, or other U.S. sanctions compliance standards for sanctions that would remain under a mutual return to full JCPOA implementation. Any report to the contrary is flat out wrong." Price said there has been "some highly inaccurate reporting about sanctions related to the IRGC."