Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that they are very concerned about the United States' intention to respond to the Iranian demand to remove the Revolutionary Guards from the list of terrorist organizations, after leaks about the possibility of Washington taking this step in parallel with the approaching signing of a nuclear agreement with Tehran.
At the beginning of the weekly government session, Bennett described the Revolutionary Guards as the largest and most lethal terrorist organization around the world, as he put it.
The Prime Minister indicated - according to tweets on his Twitter account - that the Revolutionary Guards, in recent years, have launched missiles at peaceful countries, and sent marches targeting Israel and others, as well as targeting American forces.
He believes that there is a determination to sign the nuclear agreement with Iran at almost any price, including removing the Revolutionary Guards from the list of terrorist organizations, but he said that this price is too much to bear.
Bennett stressed that even if he made this "unfortunate" decision, Israel would continue to treat the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization.
The following are excerpts from the statements made by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting:
“We are very concerned about the intention of the United States to accede to the brazen Iranian demand to remove the Revolutionary Guards from the list of terrorist organizations, the FTO.
— Prime Minister of the State of Israel (@Israelipm_ar) March 20, 2022
Last Friday, Tel Aviv urged the United States not to remove the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from the blacklist of "foreign terrorist organizations" in exchange for what it called empty promises, accusing it of "killing thousands" of people.
"The Iranian Revolutionary Guard is a terrorist organization that has killed thousands of people, including Americans," Bennett and his foreign minister, Yair Lapid, said in a joint statement, stressing that "it is impossible for us to believe that the United States will revoke its designation as a terrorist organization."
This comes after an informed source announced on Wednesday that the United States is considering taking such a step in exchange for Iranian assurances about reining in the Revolutionary Guards, which represents the elite force, in a step that comes amid efforts to revive the 2015 agreement in which Iran limited its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.
"We are close to a potential agreement, but we haven't communicated it yet," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said that two "issues" remained stuck with the United States before reaching an understanding to revive the agreement on the nuclear program in the currently stalled Vienna negotiations.
The Revolutionary Guards are a powerful faction in Iran that runs a business empire, as well as elite armed and intelligence forces that Washington accuses of being involved in a global terrorist campaign.
Several sources say dropping the terrorist designation is one of the latest and most worrisome issues in the broader indirect talks on reviving the nuclear deal with Iran.