An Iranian flag is pictured near in a missile during a military drill, with the participation of Iran’s Air Defense units, Iran October 19, 2020. Photo: WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/Files

i24 News – The Pentagon’s top general said Thursday he was opposed to removing the elite Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards from the US terror group list, one of Tehran’s conditions for restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement.

“In my personal opinion, I believe the IRGC Quds Force to be a terrorist organization, and I do not support them being delisted from the foreign terrorist organization list,” Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley told a congressional hearing.

Iran has pressed for the removal of the State Department’s official “Foreign Terrorist Organization” designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a condition for returning to the 2015 deal that sought to control its nuclear development and prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.

The negotiation talks are led by the State Department and Milley and the Pentagon are not directly involved.

It was not clear whether Milley was suggesting an alternative of keeping the Quds Force designated while dropping the broader Revolutionary Guards from the list.

In a statement on the original designation, the State Department said: “The IRGC — most prominently through its Quds Force — has the greatest role among Iran’s actors in directing and carrying out a global terrorist campaign.”

It singled out specific acts by the Quds Force, including attempted bombings and assassinations inside the United States and other countries.

US officials said privately that removing the terror designation would not have much concrete impact, because the IRGC remains under a long list of economic and political sanctions.