What terrorist delisting of Iran’s IRGC would mean for US interests, allies in Middle East

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Updated 24 March 2022
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What terrorist delisting of Iran’s IRGC would mean for US interests, allies in Middle East

  • Tehran reportedly pressing Biden team in Vienna to remove sanctions against Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
  • Financial lifeline would enable IRGC to plunge vast new swathes of Middle East into chaos, conflict

WASHINGTON D.C.: US President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly in the final stages of an attempt to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

Insiders claim that Tehran is insisting that Washington agree to remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from its Foreign Terrorist Organizations list.

The American negotiating team, led by Special Representative for Iran Rob Malley, believes that it can obtain the concessions and guarantees from the Iranian government necessary for preventing it from becoming a nuclear weapons threshold power.

Analysts think a nuclear-capable Iran would significantly empower the IRGC and likely supercharge its asymmetric-warfare campaign throughout the Middle East.




A woman holds up an illustration of a portrait of Qasem Soleimani during a memorial service marking the second anniversary of his death at a school in Beirut. (File/AFP)

Iran has reportedly been pressing the Biden team to agree to an almost total overhaul of not only economic sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program, but those connected to terrorist activities specifically linked to the IRGC.

Sources report that one of Tehran’s conditions to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the nuclear deal, is the removal of the terrorist designation, which equates the IRGC with Daesh, and Al-Qaeda.

The Biden administration has not confirmed the leaks but has made clear it hopes to restore the JCPOA. But there are signs that it may acquiesce to Tehran’s demands.

Critics point to what they see as a serious flaw in the Biden administration’s strategic reasoning.




An Iranian missile launched during a joint military drill dubbed the ‘Great Prophet 17,’ in the southwest of Iran. (AFP/Iran's Revolutionary Guard via SEPAH NEWS)

Michael Doran, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Arab News that the deal under consideration by the Biden administration would neither prevent Iran from eventually developing nuclear weapons nor dissuade the IRGC from conducting terror attacks against American and allied interests.

He said: “Biden officials and, before them, (former US President Barack) Obama officials promised us repeatedly that the nuclear deal would not prevent the United States from working to contain the IRGC on the ground in the Middle East.

“Clearly, the nuclear deal is about much more than nuclear weapons. It will remove all meaningful restrictions on Iran’s nuclear-weapons program, thus paving the way to Iran’s early acquisition of a nuclear bomb.”

The IRGC was founded as an ideological custodian of Iran’s 1979 revolution and entrusted with defending the Islamic Republic against internal and external threats. Its participation in the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s led to the expansion of both its role and its might, making it Iran’s dominant military force, with its own army, navy, and air force and, later, its own intelligence wing.




A view of a damaged silo at the Saudi Aramco oil facility in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia after the Houthis launched a missile attack on the facility, triggering an explosion and a fire in a fuel tank. (File/AFP)

Over time, it gained an outsized role in executing Iran’s foreign policy and currently wields control over vast segments of the economy. The IRGC has proven to be a favored tool of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to launch plausibly deniable asymmetric attacks using cadres and their proxies who are indoctrinated and trained by Iranian operatives with decades of experience in such operations.

Unsurprisingly, the general consensus of analysts was that lifting both nuclear and terror-related sanctions would inevitably lead to a major cash infusion into IRGC coffers that could only be an incentive for expansion of the organization’s terror activities.

“The move allows people and companies connected to the IRGC to engage in business deals with foreign entities with less scrutiny and move money across the globe more easily,” Saeed Ghasseminejad, a senior adviser on Iran at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Arab News.

“This is in addition to tens of billions of dollars that become available to the regime after the deal, which benefits the IRGC as a key stakeholder of the Islamic fundamentalist regime in Tehran.

“Removing the IRGC from the terror list and lifting sanctions on companies connected to it boosts its financial resources, expands its operational capacity, and increases its political power and regional influence,” he said.

Tehran seems to have seized on signals from the Biden administration, which, while publicly claiming that the Vienna process will not be open-ended, has given Iran significant leeway in dragging out the nuclear negotiations in order to gain maximum leverage and concessions.




Iranian crude oil tanker Sabiti sails in the Red Sea. (File/AFP)

“Washington does not seem to be able to say no to Tehran because the Biden administration wants a nuclear deal almost at any price.

“The IRGC is a terrorist organization and has not changed its behavior or mission. What has changed is that Washington is desperate to reach a deal with the ayatollahs,” Ghasseminejad added.

The IRGC has been implicated in attacks against civilians since the 1980s. Its terror operations have, by most accounts, killed thousands of innocent foreigners, targeting Arabs, Israelis, Americans, and Europeans, from Argentina to Thailand.

Its proxies, particularly the Houthis in Yemen, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, actively threaten the Arab world, while building missile capabilities that threaten the very existence of Israel. And while the Biden administration has of late condemned indiscriminate Houthi missile attacks on civilian infrastructure and population centers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, there has been conspicuous silence in the matter of addressing the root of the problem.

Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against a Nuclear Iran, told Arab News that there were compelling national security reasons for keeping the IRGC on America’s Foreign Terrorist Organizations list.

“The FTO designation carries unique criminal and immigration prohibitions, and thus has a legal distinction that other counterterrorism designations, like Executive Order 13224 (issued by former US President George W. Bush in response to the 9/11 terror attacks in America), lack.




A view of an anti-aircraft missile launcher firing a salvo during a joint military exercise between the Iranian army and the IRGC. (File/AFP)

“Delisting the IRGC in exchange for a mere public commitment to de-escalation would set a troubling precedent as it risks cheapening the FTO list, which designates organizations due to their behavior,” Brodsky said.

He pointed out that the IRGC’s local branches in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen could not be disassociated from the resulting outcome of granting the organization what could be a game-changing strategic concession if approved by Biden.

Terror networks operating under separate names while belonging to a common ideological and operational umbrella overseen by the IRGC would not feel compelled by a nuclear deal to alter their behavior, he added.

“It also makes no sense to delist the mother ship from which manpower, money, and materiel flows — the IRGC — while including its satellites like Hezbollah on the FTO list.

“The (US) Department of State has already had a bad experience after it delisted the Houthis as an FTO, and it awkwardly has had to condemn every Houthi attack while trying to justify the decision. Delisting the IRGC as an FTO would be worse,” Brodsky said.

And he noted that the potential financial windfall resulting from the removal of terror sanctions would also play into internal power dynamics within the Iranian regime.




The IRGC take part in five-days military exercises in three Iranian provinces. (File/AFP)

“I would not underestimate the importance to Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi of the IRGC’s removal from the FTO list. He harbors ambitions beyond the presidency, specifically the supreme leadership, and he needs the IRGC’s support in that process. This may be one of the reasons why the Iranian establishment has made this a priority,” he added.

In reversing former US President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign, could the Biden team then be setting a precedent that might significantly weaken America’s standing and diplomatic influence in the Middle East?

Brodsky said: “In pressing for the IRGC’s removal as an FTO, Tehran is seeking a propaganda victory. Most importantly it sends a terrible message to US allies and partners in the region, with whom relations are already strained on a variety of issues.”

Biden’s predecessor took a decidedly different tack when it came to the question of how to react to threats emanating directly from IRGC plots. For instance, a decision such as the targeted killing in 2019 of the IRGC’s leader and most capable commander, Qassem Soleimani, in response to intelligence that he was preparing an attack on the US embassy in Baghdad, would be impossible to take were the proposed nuclear deal to go ahead.

Len Khodorkovsky, a former senior US State Department official, said the Biden team was making a fundamental negotiating error in not setting clear red lines for Iran.

“President Biden has decided to do whatever it takes to get back into the JCPOA. That desperation has been used by the Iranian regime to extract outlandish concessions. If you want to know what the IRGC will do after its delisting, just look at what the Houthis have done. Terrorists will always do what they do best — terrorize people,” Khodorkovsky added.

Put simply, if a nuclear deal is signed under the current conditions, Iran’s missiles would continue to threaten Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Baghdad, Irbil, and Tel Aviv while its long terror arm will be thrown a financial lifeline that will enable it to plunge vast new swathes of the Middle East deeper into chaos and conflict.


One million Bangladeshis make public pledge to boycott Israel-linked products

Updated 12 April 2025
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One million Bangladeshis make public pledge to boycott Israel-linked products

  • Dhaka protest was the largest Palestine solidarity rally in Bangladesh’s recent history
  • Protesters call for reinstating the ‘except Israel’ clause in Bangladeshi passports

DHAKA: More than 1 million Bangladeshis assembled on the streets of Dhaka on Saturday to join the country’s largest Gaza solidarity rally and take a public oath to boycott products and entities linked to Israel.

Waving the flags of Bangladesh and Palestine and chanting “Free Palestine,” “Stop the Israeli aggression,” and “Boycott Israeli products,” residents of the country’s capital flocked to the Suhrawardy Udyan — the main public space — for the “March for Gaza” demonstration.

Organized by the Palestine Solidarity Movement Bangladesh, the event featured politicians, celebrities, artists, poets and popular social media influencers, who joined in a call on world leaders to bring to justice Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others responsible for Israel’s mass killing of Palestinian civilians.

Political leaders present at the event called for international accountability and immediate action to end Israel’s deadly onslaught on Gaza, where over 50,900 people have been killed, 116,000 wounded, and 2 million others face starvation after Israeli forces destroyed most of the region’s infrastructure and buildings, while blocking humanitarian aid from entering.

A joint declaration read during the rally called on the international community to “take effective and collective action to end the genocide,” and especially on Muslim countries to immediately sever all economic, military, and diplomatic relations with Israel and to “impose commercial blockades and sanctions on the Zionist state” and begin active diplomatic efforts to isolate it on the international stage.

“We will boycott every product, company, and force that sustains Israel’s occupation ... We will start from our own homes, leaving an imprint of this pledge in language, history, education, economy, and society,” said the declaration read by Mahmudur Rahman, editor of the Amar Desh daily newspaper, who helped organize the event.

It was the largest Palestine solidarity rally in Bangladesh in recent history.

“More than a million people actually gathered today. According to the police, they have said probably it was 1.1 million,” Rahman told Arab News.

“It was a huge gathering, but it was so peaceful ... This is some sort of example for the entire world. It was peaceful and it was in favor of humanity. Because it’s not only a question of Islam — we were protesting against the inhuman genocide (perpetrated by) the Israeli regime. So, this protest is for the humanity. We have asked the Muslim Ummah to get united to free Palestine.”

The protesters also called on the government to reinstate the “except Israel” clause in Bangladeshi passports, which had barred nationals from traveling to Israel. Even though Bangladesh has no diplomatic relations with Israel, the clause was removed in 2021 by the previous administration of Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in a popular uprising last year.

Participants at the rally said they already follow many aspects of Saturday’s declaration — especially the boycott call.

“I stopped buying Israeli products from the very beginning of this latest round of Israeli aggression, which started about a year and a half ago. I even stopped buying Coca-Cola, though it’s a very popular and well-known drink here. This is my personal way of protesting against Israel — as an individual,” said Arman Sheikh, a businessman in Dhaka.

“This kind of boycott can definitely make a difference. There’s nothing stronger than the power of the masses.”

Nasrin Begum, a teacher, said she has been trying to avoid global brands for their possible links with Israel, instead choosing local alternatives.

“Before purchasing cosmetics, now I always google about their origin. If anything in my search shows a connection to Israel, I avoid those products,” she said.

“It’s not very difficult to find a suitable substitute for Israeli-linked goods. It’s an open market economy. We can get any products from anywhere in the world. It’s all about our mindset and determination. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I continued purchasing Israeli-linked goods after all the atrocities they are committing.” 


Asiatic Society employs AI to decipher ancient Indian manuscripts

Updated 12 April 2025
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Asiatic Society employs AI to decipher ancient Indian manuscripts

  • Society has 52,000 rare manuscripts, many of which still have not been deciphered
  • Project Vidhvanika in collaboration with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing

NEW DELHI: The Asiatic Society in Kolkata is using AI transcription and machine learning to decipher ancient manuscripts in its archives and make them accessible to scholars worldwide.

Founded in 1784, during British colonial rule, the Asiatic Society is one of India’s oldest research institutions and is dedicated to the study and preservation of history, culture, and languages.

Many of the society’s more than 52,000 rare manuscripts and historical documents have not previously been deciphered. The society launched its Vidhvanika (“decoding knowledge”) project in December to digitize them and to develop language models for ancient scripts.

“Work needs to be done on the majority of the manuscripts,” Anant Sinha, administrator of the Asiatic Society, Kolkata, told Arab News. “We are working with three scientists. Besides that, I have my reprography team involved in the scanning, and then there’s the expert team, which includes specialists in different languages, scripts, and subjects.”

The project is also being supported by the Center for Development of Advanced Computing, India’s premier IT research and development organization.

The society’s manuscript collection spans a wide range of subjects — including Indian history, literature, philosophy, religion, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and art — and of languages, including Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian, Tamil, Bengali, and other regional languages of India.

Decoding the manuscripts requires an understanding of the scripts, their language, the styles used in historical documents, the historical context, and the subject matter. There are few active, specialized paleographers and manuscript scholars conducting such work and research, not only in India but across the world.

“The motive behind this project is very simple and clear: the language, the script and the subject — generally you require knowledge of these three to understand a manuscript, (and) the people who have (that) knowledge are very few. We are developing machine language (models), so that you can use software or an app to read the manuscripts,” Sinha said.

He estimated the current accuracy of the models at about 40 percent, as the machine learning process continues.

“Our plan is to take it to 90 percent to 95 percent. It will never have 100 percent accuracy,” Sinha said. “It is a machine, it’s not a human. It’s learning what you are teaching it, so you have to give that leeway ... It will be an ongoing process because the machine language (model) keeps improving itself.”

The Vidhvanika project was launched on the 225th anniversary of the birth of James Prinsep, an English scholar and a former secretary of the society who is credited with deciphering the Kharosthi and Brahmi scripts of ancient India.

That feat played a crucial role in uncovering the history of the ancient Mauryan Empire that ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent during the 4th century BCE.

Vidhvanika, Sinha believes, may help save other languages that played a role in the region’s history from being forgotten.

“We must make an effort to understand what is in those manuscripts and what our ancestors have left for us,” he said. “Brahmi and Kharosthi are languages of this continent, and we ourselves have forgotten that. If we (are again at risk of losing) some script or some language, then we will require another James Prinsep to decipher it.”


Indian army officer, 3 suspected militants killed in Kashmir fighting

Updated 12 April 2025
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Indian army officer, 3 suspected militants killed in Kashmir fighting

  • India says militants were trying to infiltrate from Pakistan’s Azad Kashmir
  • India, Pakistan each administer parts of Kashmir but claim territory in entirety

SRINAGAR, India: Three suspected militants and an army officer have been killed in two separate gunbattles in Indian-controlled Kashmir, the Indian army said Saturday.

Army soldiers laid a cordon in a forested area in southern Kishtwar district on Wednesday following a tip that a group of insurgents was operating there, an army statement said.

A search in the area by soldiers led to a firefight with militants, initially leaving one militant dead late Wednesday, the statement said.

It added that despite inclement weather, troops maintained their cordon in the area, triggering more exchanges of gunfire that resulted in the killing of two more militants on Saturday.
The army did not report any casualties on its side.

However, in another incident, the Indian army said its soldiers in southern Akhnoor area intercepted a group of militants close to the heavily militarized Line of Control dividing the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir between India and Pakistan late Friday. 

Fighting ensued during which one army officer was killed, it said.

The statement said militants were trying to infiltrate into the Indian side from Pakistan’s Azad Kashmir.

There was no independent confirmation of either of the incidents.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
Militants in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. 

Many Muslim Kashmiris support the rebels’ goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored “terrorism.” 

Pakistan denies the charge, and many Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.

The territory has simmered in anger since 2019 when New Delhi ended the region’s semi-autonomy and drastically curbed dissent, civil liberties and media freedoms while intensifying counterinsurgency operations.


Bomb strikes near the Athens offices of the Greek railway company. No injuries reported

Updated 12 April 2025
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Bomb strikes near the Athens offices of the Greek railway company. No injuries reported

  • The explosion comes amid widespread public anger over a 2023 railway disaster, Greece’s worst, in which 57 people were killed

ATHENS: A bomb planted near the offices of Hellenic Train, Greece’s main railway company, exploded Friday night in a busy district of central Athens, authorities said. There were no reports of injuries.
The explosion comes amid widespread public anger over a 2023 railway disaster, Greece’s worst, in which 57 people were killed and dozens more injured when a freight train and a passenger train heading in opposite directions were accidentally put on the same track.
Local media said a newspaper and a news website had received an anonymous call shortly before Friday’s blast, with the caller warning that a bomb had been planted outside the railway company offices and would explode within about 40 minutes.
In a statement, Hellenic Train said the explosion had occurred “very close to its central offices” and said the blast had caused limited damage and no injuries to any employees or passers-by.
It said authorities had acted immediately upon receiving information about the warning call, and that the company was cooperating fully with authorities and ensuring the safety of its staff.
Police cordoned off the site along a major avenue in the Greek capital, keeping residents and tourists away from the building in an area with several bars and restaurants. Officers at the scene said a bag containing an explosive device had been placed near the Hellenic Train building on Syngrou Avenue.
Police forensics experts wearing white coveralls were collecting evidence at the scene.
Criticism over the government’s handling of the Feb. 28, 2023 collision at Tempe in northern Greece has mounted over the last few weeks in the wake of the second anniversary of the disaster, which killed mostly young people who had been returning to university classes after a public holiday.
The crash exposed severe deficiencies in Greece’s railway system, including in safety systems, and has triggered mass protests — led by relatives of the victims — against the country’s conservative government. Critics accused authorities of failing to take political responsibility for the disaster or holding senior officials accountable.
So far, only rail officials have been charged with any crimes. Several protests in recent weeks have turned violent, with demonstrators clashing with police.
Earlier Friday, a heated debate in Parliament on the rail crash led to lawmakers voting to refer a former Cabinet minister to judicial authorities to be investigated over alleged violation of duty over his handling of the immediate aftermath of the accident.
Hellenic Train said it “unreservedly condemns every form of violence and tension which are triggering a climate of toxicity that is undermining all progress.”
Greece has a long history of politically-motivated violence dating back to the 1970s, with domestic extremist groups carrying out small-scale bombings which usually cause damage but rarely lead to injuries.
While the groups most active in the 1980s and 1990s have been dismantled, new small groups have emerged. Last year, a man believed to have been trying to assemble a bomb was killed when the explosive device he was making exploded in a central Athens apartment. A woman inside the apartment was severely injured. The blast had prompted Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrisochoidis to warn of an emerging new generation of domestic extremists.


What we know about the New York City helicopter crash that killed 6 people

Updated 12 April 2025
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What we know about the New York City helicopter crash that killed 6 people

  • Pieces of the aircraft could be seen floating in the river Friday as divers resumed searching for clues as to the cause of Thursday’s crash
  • The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. In addition to the pilot, those killed included a family of five from Spain

NEW YORK: A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart and crashed into the Hudson River near the New Jersey shoreline, killing the pilot and a Spanish family of five who were on board.
Pieces of the aircraft could be seen floating in the river on Friday as divers searched for clues about what caused the Thursday crash. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. It’s the latest in a series of recent aircraft crashes and close calls that have left some people worried about the safety of flying in the US
Here’s what we know so far:
How did it happen?
Witnesses described seeing the helicopter’s tail and main rotor breaking away and smoke pouring from the spinning chopper before it slammed into the water.
The helicopter took off from a downtown heliport at around 3 p.m. and flew north along the Manhattan skyline before heading south toward the Statue of Liberty. Less than 18 minutes into the flight, parts of the aircraft were seen tumbling into the water.
Rescue boats circled the submerged aircraft within minutes of impact, and recovery crews hoisted the mangled helicopter out of the water just after 8 p.m. using a floating crane.
The bodies were also recovered from the river, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said.
Who were the victims?
The victims included passengers Agustin Escobar, 49, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, 39, and their three children, Victor, 4, Mercedes, 8, and Agustin, 10. Mercedes would have turned 9 on Friday, officials said.
Escobar, an executive at Siemens, was in the New York area on business, and his family flew in to meet him for a few days, Steven Fulop, mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey, wrote in a post on X. Photos on the helicopter company’s website show the couple and their children smiling just before taking off.
In a statement posted on the social platform X on Friday night by Joan Camprubí Montal, Montal’s brother, family members said there were “no words to describe” what they are experiencing.
“These are very difficult times, but optimism and joy have always characterized our family. We want to keep the memory of a happy and united family, in the sweetest moment of their lives,” he said. “They have departed together, leaving an indelible mark among all their relatives, friends, and acquaintances.”
The pilot was Seankese Johnson, 36, a US Navy veteran who received his commercial pilot’s license in 2023. He had logged about 800 hours of flight time as of March, Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told reporters Friday.
In the summer of 2023, Johnson announced on Facebook that he was flying a helicopter to fight fires for a Montana-based firm. In March this year, he changed his profile to an image of him piloting a helicopter with a view of One World Trade Center and the Manhattan skyline in the background.
His father, Louis Johnson, told The New York Times his son had moved to New York this year for “a new chapter in his life.”
What may have caused the crash?
Hemendy said the NTSB would not speculate on the cause of the crash so early in the investigation.
The main and rear rotors of the helicopter, along with its transmission, roof and tail structures had still not been found as of Friday, she said.
“We are very factual, and we will provide that in due course,” she said.
Justin Green, an aviation lawyer and former Marine Corps helicopter pilot, said videos of the crash suggest that a “catastrophic mechanical failure” left the pilot with no chance to save the aircraft. It is possible the helicopter’s main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Green said.
Michael Roth, who owns the helicopter company, New York Helicopter, told The New York Post that he doesn’t know what went wrong with the aircraft.
“The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren’t on the helicopter,” he said, noting that he had never seen such a thing happen in his 30 years in the business, but that, “These are machines, and they break.”
What do we know about the helicopter company?
In the last eight years, the New York Helicopter has been through a bankruptcy and faces ongoing lawsuits over alleged debts. Phones rang unanswered at the company’s offices Friday.
In 2013, one of the company’s helicopters suddenly lost power in midair, and the pilot maneuvered it to a safe landing on pontoons in the Hudson.
FAA data shows the helicopter that crashed Thursday was built in 2004. According to FAA records, the helicopter had a maintenance issue last September involving its transmission assembly. The helicopter had logged 12,728 total flight hours at the time, according to the records.
How common are such crashes?
At least 38 people have died in helicopter crashes in New York City since 1977. A collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed nine people, and five people died in 2018 when a charter helicopter offering “open door” flights went down into the East River.
Thursday’s crash was the first for a helicopter in the city since one hit the roof of a skyscraper in 2019, killing the pilot.
Recently, seven people were killed when a medical transport plane plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood. The crash in January happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington in the deadliest US air disaster in a generation.
On Friday, three people were killed when a small plane crashed in South Florida near a major highway.