‘Avenging the blood’: Iran Guard vows justice for slain general | Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps News
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) says it will not stop working to avenge the country’s top general killed in a US attack as a condition of ending sanctions. sanctions – a key point to restore an important nuclear deal.
General Qassem SoleimaniThe head of the elite Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign operations branch, was killed in a US drone strike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad in January 2020.
“The enemy has asked us many times to give up revenge for the blood of Qasem Soleimani, because of the lifting of some sanctions. But this is a fantasy,” navy commander Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri was quoted as saying by the IRGC’s Sepah News website.
Former US President Donald Trump order to kill Soleimani, said he was planning an “imminent” attack on American personnel in the Iraqi capital.
Iran responded to his assassination by firing missiles a few days later at Iraqi bases where American troops were located, injuring them. Attacks and retaliation have brought the Middle East region to the brink of war.
‘Decision’
Iran has been engaged for a year in direct talks with France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China, and indirectly the United States, to restore a landmark 2015 nuclear deal, which was officially announced. called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
In 2018, two years before Soleimani was killed, the US unilaterally withdrew from the accord and reimposed sanctions on Iran, causing Tehran to backtrack on its commitments.
The talks in the Austrian capital Vienna are aimed at bringing Washington back to the deal, including lifting crippling sanctions on Iran and ensuring Tehran fully complies with its commitments.
Among the remaining key points is Tehran’s demand to delist the IRGC from US “terrorist” list.
That sanctions, imposed by Trump after he pulled out of the nuclear deal, are officially separate from the nuclear record.
The United States said on Thursday that if Iran wants relief from sanctions beyond the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, it must address “American concerns.”
“We do not negotiate publicly, but if Iran wants to lift sanctions beyond the JCPOA, it will need to address our concerns beyond the JCPOA,” a State Department spokesman said.
“Conversely, if they do not want to use these negotiations to resolve bilateral issues other than the JCPOA, then we are confident that we can quickly reach an understanding of the JCPOA and start implementing it. re-enact the agreement,” the spokesman added. “Iran needs to make a decision.”
‘Actively use our powerful tools’
The Quds Force is a foreign spy force and paramilitary arm of Iran’s IRGC that controls its allied militias abroad. The Trump administration added the IRGC to the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations in 2019, marking the first time Washington has officially labeled another country’s military a “terrorist” group.
“Under any rollback of the JCPOA, the United States will retain and actively use our powerful tools to address Iran’s destabilizing activities,” a State Department spokesperson said. and their support for terrorism and terrorist organizations, especially to combat the IRGC.
US right-wing politicians and Israel, Iran’s arch-rivalwarned Washington about lifting sanctions on the IRGC.
Iran this week said “technical issues” in talks currently on hold to restore the nuclear deal had been resolved, but “political” issues persisted ahead of any signing. any agreement.
“We have repeatedly emphasized [to Washington] Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Thursday that Iran is not ready to give up its red lines.
On Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said “culprits, officials, accomplices and advisers” in Soleimani’s death “will not be punished“, adding “these people must be brought to justice”.
