Iran Deal Would Ease Sanctions on Iranian Bodies Linked to International Terrorism

Under the Iran nuclear agreement, dozens of companies with links to the country’s Revolutionary Guard military force, as well as individuals accused of having links to terrorism, will secure sanctions relief from either the U.N., European Union or U.S., Reuters reported.

Among those is an Iranian bank that the U.S. has accused of transferring money to the terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Reuters reviewed annexes of the nuclear deal and tallied about 90 current and former IRGC officials, companies that have worked with the Revolutionary Guard, and the IRGC itself that will be removed from nuclear sanctions lists. 

One particularly notable entity to win sanctions relief in eight years from the EU is the IRGC’s elite Quds force which operates overseas, including working alongside Hezbollah.

However, the Quds force will remain under U.S. sanctions for its terrorism and weapons of mass destruction proliferation activities, Reuters reported.

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“The IRGC was behinds hundreds of attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan against American troops. It has also been behind the oppression of the Iranian people domestically, not to mention the support it provides to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Assad regime in Syria,” Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told TheBlaze Monday.

“While the de-listing of IRGC entities is unquestionably disturbing, it’s important to understand that the IRGC dominates the Iranian economy. Any sanctions relief granted to Iran will flow to the IRGC. This is one reason why the proposed deal is so troubling,” said Schanzer, who was previously a terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Treasury Department.

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