Tehran has announced its willingness to relinquish its demand the Revolutionary Guards be removed from Washington's terrorism blacklist. This is according to a report by the Qatar-aligned Middle East Eye news site that quoted a source from the Islamic Republic.
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The Revolutionary Guards' removal from the blacklist was one of the most contentious issues to recently arise in indirect talks between the US and Iran to restore the nuclear deal.
The source told the London-based site that in return, Iran was demanding the US rescind sanctions on the Revolutionary Guards' economic arm, Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters. Washington has yet to issue an official statement on the report and did not respond to a request for comment from Middle East Eye.
Within the framework of the Iranian proposal, messages were also relayed on confidence-building measures in the form of additional potential concessions on the part of Iran, according to a report by Channel 12 News.
Iran is weighing an American request for Tehran to issue a public statement saying it would refrain from targeting senior US officials. According to the report, the move would come as a confidence-building measure.
One anonymous Iranian expert told Western media outlets such a move would be a major concession on the part of the country's President Ebrahim Raisi, who has publicly declared his intention of striking those responsible for the assassination of the former Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. "To publicly declare an avoidance of harming US officials past and present is a very difficult step for Raisi's conservative government."
Despite the waning prospects of reviving the Iranian nuclear deal, a United States official told Saudi media on Sunday that there was still potential to bring Washington and Tehran back into full compliance with the agreement.
"We believe that the nuclear deal is possible, but it depends on Iran," Bill Russo, deputy assistant secretary of state for strategic messaging in the Bureau of Global Public Affairs, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The agreement will "provide the international community with real achievements in the field of non-proliferation [of nuclear weapons] and contribute to a greater regional stability. We will continue to conduct assessments, but the decision is up to Iran – to decide whether to return to the deal or stay away from the international community," Russo said.
Nevertheless, he clarified that Washington shared the International Atomic Energy Agency's concerns over the ayatollah regime's lack of transparency with regard to its nuclear sites.
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