White House should declare IRGC terrorists

The US decided to designate the Russian private military company, the Wagner Group, as a “significant transnational criminal organization” for its role in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the group had been committing widespread atrocities and human rights abuses.
“In coordination with this designation, we will also impose additional sanctions next week against Wagner and its support network across multiple continents. These actions recognize the transcontinental threat that Wagner poses, including through its ongoing pattern of serious criminal activity,” Kirby said.
The White House believes the mercenary group has become a rival to the Russian regular military forces. When the group transfers weapons from North Korea to other countries, such as Russia, it becomes a problem for the administration. Kirby confirmed that US intelligence photographs showed Russian rail cars entering North Korea and picking up rockets and missiles for later use by Wagner forces.
While the American interest in Wagner’s mercenaries rises, the EU countries are trying to highlight the very significant global threat, posed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
On Thursday, the European parliament approved a resolution calling on the bloc to consider designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, a terrorist organization. The Iranian leadership threatened the EU with repercussions inside Iran, in the region, and Europe if the EU took this decision.
An ultra-conservative Iranian lawmaker warned Germany, France and the UK that the parliament would add them to Iran’s terror list if the EU resolution goes any further. Mohammed Nabavi said that if Europe endangers Iranian interests around the world, the interests of EU member states, their supporters, and their companies, “will be threatened no matter where they are located.”
The Iranian regime’s strong reaction, by raising the bar of its direct threats, reflects the vital role of the IRGC in maintaining the regime’s existence and empowering its dangerous regional influence.
The European countries have realized that focusing on Ukraine is not enough to win the bigger war; therefore, Iran should be confronted.
What would it take to convince US President Joe Biden that Iran is still a clear and present danger? The Iranian threat to US national security is far more significant than the Wagner group is.

It is the right time for the US to pull the plug and put the final nail in the coffin of the Iranian regime.

Dalia Al-Aqidi

The White House should be reminded that the Iranians are the ones that have been targeting American citizens, even on its own soil.
The question is not whether the Wagner group should be designated a terrorist organization but rather why the more severe threat to the American people did not come before that, and what the US Department of State is waiting for.
The IRGC has an estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navy, and air units under the command of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The Quds Force is an elite clandestine wing of the IRGC, responsible for its foreign operations, such as in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.
It has been proven by US intelligence that the IRGC delivered Iranian drones to the Russians. And the IRGC has made attempts in the past to assassinate foreign officials on US soil.
Aren’t these reasons serious enough to convince Biden that the rising threat from this terrorist organization should be dealt with immediately to protect Americans and their interests everywhere?
The White House needs to back the EU decision to designate the IRGC as it is, a terrorist group, and take more strict measures against the organization for its role in killing and torturing Iranian protesters. The leader of the free world should stand by the oppressed and confront the oppressor.
It is the right time for the US to pull the plug and put the final nail in the coffin of the Iranian regime while the people of Iran decide their own future.

• Dalia Al-Aqidi is a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy.
Twitter: @DaliaAlAqidi