The United States has a clear and long-standing principle:

It does not negotiate with terrorist organizations or legitimize actors responsible for systematic violence against civilians.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is officially designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). It plays a central role in:

• Violent suppression of peaceful protests
• Mass arrests, torture, and executions
• Enforced disappearances and intimidation
• Regional destabilization through armed proxies
• Engaging in negotiations that empower the Iranian regime or the IRGC contradicts U.S. law, U.S. counterterrorism policy, and core democratic values.

Responsibility to Protect (R2P)

Under the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine—endorsed by the United Nations and supported by the United States—the international community has an obligation to act when a state:

• Commits crimes against humanity,
• Uses systematic violence against its own population, and
• Demonstrates a clear unwillingness or inability to protect its citizens.

The Iranian regime has repeatedly met these conditions.

When a government becomes the primary threat to its own people, sovereignty can no longer be used as a shield for mass repression.

R2P does not mean silence.
It does not mean neutrality.
And it does not mean negotiation without accountability.

Key Political Facts

• The U.S. government does not negotiate with terrorist organizations as a matter of national security.
• The IRGC is sanctioned for terrorism and human rights abuses.
• International human rights organizations have documented widespread killings of protestors and systemic repression.
• Negotiations without accountability legitimize violence, weaken global norms, and embolden authoritarian regimes.

The Iranian people are not asking for reform within the current system.
They are demanding an end to it.

Our Demands

We call on the President of the United States, Congress, and the U.S. State Department to:

1. Immediately cease negotiations or agreements that legitimize or economically empower the Iranian regime or the IRGC.
2. Publicly reaffirm that the United States does not negotiate with terrorist organizations, including the IRGC.
3. Invoke the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) framework to justify stronger international action against systematic repression in Iran.
4. Expand coordinated international pressure, including:
   • Targeted sanctions
   • Diplomatic isolation
   • Legal accountability mechanisms
   • Support for independent investigations
5. Actively support the Iranian people’s right to self-determination, freedom, and democratic change through lawful international means.
6. Make clear that U.S. policy stands with the people of Iran — not with those who imprison, torture, and kill them.

Why This Matters

History shows that negotiating with regimes built on violence does not bring peace or stability.
It brings legitimacy, resources, and time for further repression.

The Iranian people are risking their lives for freedom.
They should not be abandoned for political convenience or short-term strategic calculations.

The United States must choose:

• Principle over appeasement
• Human rights over expediency
• People over perpetrators

No negotiations with terror.
Invoke Responsibility to Protect.
Stand with the Iranian people.