US Administration Reluctant to Remove IRGC from Terror List

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps troops march in a military parade in Tehran in 2016. (Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press)
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps troops march in a military parade in Tehran in 2016. (Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press)
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US Administration Reluctant to Remove IRGC from Terror List

Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps troops march in a military parade in Tehran in 2016. (Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press)
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps troops march in a military parade in Tehran in 2016. (Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press)

The region covered by the US Central Command “is where we protect waterways so that global commerce can flow,” said US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin, in remarks during a change of command ceremony at CENTCOM.

“It is where we fight terrorists who threaten our citizens. And it is where we work with our partners to confront instability from Iran and its proxies,” he added.

He continued: “And so CENTCOM is central to our security. It is central to our readiness. And it is central to our mission.”

In his speech, Austin focused on the partnerships that CENTCOM holds in the region, especially after Israel’s realignment.

On Iran’s destabilizing role in the region, he said: “Iran has been expanding its nuclear program and investing in military capabilities, especially ballistic missiles. It has cultivated dangerous proxies. And it’s using unmanned aerial systems to threaten us and our partners.”

He pointed to political difficulties faced by the administration of US President Joe Biden in “marketing” a return to a nuclear agreement with Iran, in light of its rejection to discuss its ballistic missile program and its regional policies.

“The President has been clear: the United States is committed to preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. And we’re still committed to a diplomatic outcome on the nuclear issue. But regardless of the outcome of the nuclear talks, we’ll keep working closely together with our many partners to confront the threats from Iran,” Austin stated.

He continued: “In the short term, we’ll increase intelligence sharing and bolster regional air defense. And in the longer term, we’ll work together to tackle Iran’s use of missiles and its proliferation of unmanned aerial systems. And we’ll keep standing strong with our partners to hold Iran and its proxies accountable.”

US Army Gen. Michael “Erik” Kurilla assumed the command of CENTCOM from his successor, Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie.

In comments during the ceremony, Kurilla said: “The regions that comprise CENTCOM: the Levant, the Middle East, South and Central Asia, are home to some of the most important and extraordinary scientific, artistic and social contributions to human history… Yet, they are home to violence, instability and conflict. There are areas of great suffering, abuse and human misery.”

He added that the central leadership must be involved in ensuring that global trade continues in the region, and must guarantee that threats there do not develop the ability to harm the American homeland.

Meanwhile, a US official said that negotiations between the US and Iran were now suspended, because nothing at this stage was acceptable to both parties.

“At this point, nothing mutually acceptable” has been proposed, according to a US official quoted by the Washington Post.

He explained that Tehran’s demand that the United States lift its designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, and US refusal to do that, have brought the negotiations over reviving the Iran nuclear deal to a halt.

The official said the decision rests with Biden.

“The president hasn’t made a decision,” the official said. “Politically, we know that it’s an extremely difficult step to take.”



Russian Attack Kills 3 in Ukraine’s City of Dnipro, Governor Says

 A firefighter works at the site of a household item shopping mall which was hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the city of Kamianske, Dnipro region, Ukraine July 26, 2025. (Reuters)
A firefighter works at the site of a household item shopping mall which was hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the city of Kamianske, Dnipro region, Ukraine July 26, 2025. (Reuters)
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Russian Attack Kills 3 in Ukraine’s City of Dnipro, Governor Says

 A firefighter works at the site of a household item shopping mall which was hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the city of Kamianske, Dnipro region, Ukraine July 26, 2025. (Reuters)
A firefighter works at the site of a household item shopping mall which was hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the city of Kamianske, Dnipro region, Ukraine July 26, 2025. (Reuters)

Russia launched a barrage of drones and missiles in an overnight attack that killed three people in Ukraine's Dnipro and the nearby region on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

Moscow's troops launched 235 drones and 27 missiles, damaging residential and commercial buildings and causing fires, the Ukrainian Air Force said. It said in a statement that 10 missiles and 25 attack drones hit nine sites. The rest of the drones and missiles were brought down, the Air Force said.

"A terrible night. A massive combined attack on the region," Serhiy Lysak, the Dnipropetrovsk regional governor, said on the Telegram app.

He said three people were killed in the attacks and six others wounded in the city of Dnipro and the nearby region.

Lysak posted pictures showing firefighters battling fires, a residential building with smashed windows, and charred cars.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy vowed retaliatory strikes.

"Russian military enterprises, Russian logistics, and Russian airports should feel that Russia’s own war is now hitting them back with real consequences," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram app.

Ukraine's attacks on Russia have heated up in recent months, with Moscow and Kyiv exchanging swarms of drones and fierce fighting raging along more than 1,000 kilometers of the frontline.