A nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers is imminent, according to Kamal Kharrazi, a senior advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But the deal hinges on the United States removing the foreign terrorist organization designation against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Reuters reported.
“IRGC is a national army and a national army being listed as a terrorist group certainly is not acceptable,” Kharrazi said on Sunday at the Doha Forum.
US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley said at Doha that no decisions have been made about the IRGC designation, however. He did say that some sanctions on Iran would be removed and others remain in place under a revitalized nuclear deal, which he said is close but may not be imminent.
At Doha on Saturday, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that Iran and world powers were “very close” to agreement on a new nuclear deal, saying that a deal could be reached “in a matter of days.”
The messages at Doha come after Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said last week that a nuclear deal can be reached in the short term if the United States is more flexible.