A senior IRGC commander maintained that “the enemy keeps sending messages that if we give up on avenging Soleimani, they will give us some concessions or lift some sanctions… This is pure fantasy. The Supreme Leader has emphasised the need for revenge and the Revolutionary Guards’ top commander has said that revenge is inevitable and that we will choose the time and place for it”. In response, a U.S. spokesperson noted that “if Iran wants sanctions lifting that goes beyond the JCPOA, they will need to address concerns of ours beyond the JCPOA. Conversely, if they do not want to use these talks to resolve other bilateral issues beyond the JCPOA, then we are confident that we can very quickly reach an understanding on the JCPOA and begin reimplementing the deal”. The U.S. official added: “Under any return to the JCPOA, the U.S. would retain and aggressively use our powerful tools to address Iran’s destabilising activities and its support for terrorism and terrorist proxies, and especially to counter the IRGC”.