It is virtually a unique case of how a country's national army can be classified as a terrorist group

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard: Iran's Enforcement Arm

photo_camera AFP/HO/IRAN PRESIDENCY - Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran (IRGC)

The Revolutionary Guard of Iran was designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States.

In 2019, US President Donald Trump included Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard on the list of "terrorist groups" in an "unprecedented" decision. This was the first time that the American giant had taken this measure against the armed forces of another nation. 

"This unprecedented step (...) recognizes the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft," the US president said in an official statement announcing the US initiative. "If you are doing business with the IRGC, you will be bankrolling terrorism," Trump said. 

This US determination gives an important insight into what the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is and how it is seen within the international community.

What is the Revolutionary Guard?

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran (IRGC) is a major faction of the Ayatollah's regime's army. This elite body was established to defend the national Islamic system shortly after the 1979 Revolution, which ended the rule of the pro-Western monarch, Mohammad Reza Pahlevi, and was generated by direct order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. While the Iranian army defends national borders and maintains internal order, according to the Iranian constitution, the Revolutionary Guard, also known as the Pasdaran, is designed to protect the country's political and religious system.

Members of this body of the Persian armed forces claim that their role in protecting the Islamic system is to prevent foreign interference as well as coups d'état by the military or so-called "deviant movements". 

Since its foundation, it has become an important military, political and economic force in Iran and is currently under the control of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

It is estimated that this group has over 150,000 active members, has its own land, sea and air forces and oversees Iran's strategic weapons such as its ballistic missiles and the supposed development of nuclear weapons.  

It also controls the Basij, the paramilitary resistance force that has helped suppress internal dissent; as well as the powerful Bonyads, charitable foundations that control a considerable part of Iran's finances.

There is also the external division of the Revolutionary Guard that intervenes in the affairs of nearby states. This is the fearsome Quds Force, an international division that operates in various countries in collaboration with like-minded Shiite groups on the ground to control national internal affairs and favour Persian religious and political interests. This is the case of Yemen, with the Houthi militias that are attempting to undermine the legitimate government of Abd Rabbuh Mansur al-Hadi; Lebanon, with the Hezbollah group; Palestine, with the Hamas guerrillas; Iraq, with the militias of the People's Mobilisation Forces (PMS); or Syria, with the group of Afghan origin of Liwa Fatemiyoun.  

The IRGC thus exerts its influence in several important areas of the Middle East by providing money, weapons, technology, training and advice to allied executives and armed groups through its overseas operations arm, the Quds Force. 

Originally, the order of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was that the main task of the Revolutionary Guard is to protect the Islamic system and the country's revolutionary values. "In principle, the Iranian state could eventually reform itself outside the bounds envisioned by that revolution, in spite of the numerous constitutional safeguards Khomeini set up, to include clerical oversight of the elected government," said Brad Patty, a former U.S. army adviser and analyst. "In practice, the IRGC exists to ensure that never happens. The population of Iran may wish what it will, but they are meant to live in terror of the IRGC." According to various experts, the Iranian military currently answer directly to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khomeini's successor.

El líder Supremo de Irán, el ayatolá Alí Jamenei, junto al presidente Hasán Rohaní, y el comandante de la Fuerza Quds del Cuerpo de la Guardia Revolucionaria Islámica, Ismail Qaani (R) durante una ceremonia de duelo en Teherán por el asesinato del alto general Qassem Soleimani el 9 de enero de 2020
Structure

The IRGC today has become a major military, political and economic player in Iran, with an estimated 150,000-strong military consisting of ground forces, navy, and air units. It is also in charge of the country's ballistic missiles and nuclear programs.

Organizationally, the IRGC falls under the Joint Armed Forces General Staff as a part of the Ministry of Defense. But the military remains subordinate to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with elected civilian authorities exercising no real control, according to international policy organization Counter Extremism Project. 

Internally, the IRGC also commands the Basij Resistance Force, a religious volunteer group that channels popular support to the regime and suppresses domestic dissent.

The paramilitary force monitors compliance with the country's strict customs, such as arresting women who violate the regime's public dress codes and raiding Western-style parties where alcohol may be served.

As explained earlier, externally, the Revolutionary Guard has the fearsome Quds Force, which was led by the important figure of General Qassem Soleimani, who was eliminated by the US in a military action in Iraq, in which the Iraqi PMF leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis also fell). The international section of the elite corps of the Persian armed forces acts in close collaboration with the affiliated Shiite militias, such as the aforementioned Lebanese group Hezbollah, to extend its influence in the Middle East. 

Donald Trump even said of Soleimani that he "killed or severely wounded thousands of Americans". With his death, the blow to the Revolutionary Guard was harsh and triggered the fiery reaction of Shiite groups in various countries, such as Iraq, where attempts were made to assault even the US embassy and where military bases with US presence were attacked. Following Soleimani's elimination, he was succeeded by Ismail Qaani as commander of the Quds Force.

Fotografía de archivo del general de la Guardia Revolucionaria Qassem Soleimani, un ataque aéreo estadounidense cerca del aeropuerto de Bagdad, el viernes 3 de enero de 2020, mató al general Qassem Soleimani, el jefe de la fuerza de élite iraní Quds
International activities and ties

The elite Quds Force was created during the Iran-Iraq War in 1980 and has about 15,000 personnel.  

The group has been involved in Middle East conflicts for decades either directly or by providing support to pro-Iranian militias and governments, particularly in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, the Palestinian territories and Afghanistan.

More recently, the Quds Force were crucial to the Syrian civil war by supporting President Bashar al-Assad against the rebels.

In Iraq, the group played a key role in helping the Shiite-dominated government in the fight against IS and thwarting a Kurdish bid for independence.

The Quds Force is also considered the lifeline of Houthi rebels in their struggle against the internationally recognized government in Yemen, in which they are seeking to put an end to the internationally recognised executive, which is supported by an Arab coalition led by Saudi Arabia, Iran's major regional rival and the main representative of the Sunni branch of Islam, as opposed to the Shia sponsored by the regime of the ayatollahs.  

The pro-Iranian militias operating in the Middle East region are a constant threat to the stability of the area and to the possibility of achieving the establishment of stable and peaceful governments. From a strategic point of view, the Islamic Republic of Iran acts through these groups to achieve its political and military objectives; these formations are difficult to counteract.  

The groups set up by the Iranian regime, or those with which it has established close links because they share interests and ideology with Teheran, wage wars or carry out political activities in line with Persian interests, and in exchange obtain military and financial support and, on many occasions, advice and political support in the international concert.

Miembros de la Guardia Revolucionaria de Irán
Global designations

The U.S. designated the Quds Force as a supporter of terrorism as early as 2007, followed by Canada in 2012. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, two key neighboring rivals to Iran, designated IRGC a terror entity in 2018.

The United Nations and the European Union have refrained from designating the IRGC as a terror entity but have blacklisted key individuals of the force, including its leader Qasem Soleimani.

These Shiite groups have, on most occasions, developed into militias that have acquired sufficient relevance to be considered in some cases as non-state actors, but with almost the same capacity for influence as the states in the area themselves. 

Numerous conflicts have involved these formations associated with Iran, and the Iranian government's efforts to recruit volunteers to feed the ranks of its militias, not always with the same success, have not ceased since the end of the 70s. As expected, this attitude has not gone unnoticed by Iran's regional competitors, from Israel to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.  

The strategy followed by this Shiite sphere and supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran is very similar to that followed by similar groups of the opposite stream, such as the Muslim Brotherhood. 

Both groups initially aim to delegitimise the established power by all possible means, transferring the population that does not respond to their demands and needs. Once this has been achieved, insurrection is promoted and the conditions are created for protests or uprisings that can make the various leaders installed stagger. All this is aimed at imposing an Islamic government governed by Islamic law. 

This formula was first used successfully by the Shia majority in Iran, providing them with a powerful state with significant resources that led them to become the base of operations for the revolution of this religious current. The leaders of the new Islamic Republic set to work to redefine the Shiite Islamic world and seek ways of exporting their vision to communities that followed the same confession beyond the country's borders. 

And to ensure this strategy the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran was established, with the mission of preserving the religious and political values that had been implanted since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.  

Although not everything is hegemonic in the Persian country, as recently there have been episodes of protests in the streets, some of them harshly suppressed, which show widespread discontent with the nation's economic crisis, which is furthermore greatly affected by the coronavirus health crisis.  .

There are even certain disagreements within the ruling class when it comes to deciding on the strategy to be followed. And although Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the hardliners, such as the members of the Revolutionary Guard, oppose any decision that compromises the main objectives in terms of national security, the president-elect, Hassan Rohani, advocates the country's return to the regional and international diplomatic concert.

Although he was very belligerent on the issue of the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran on account of the country's failure to comply with the nuclear pact sealed in 2015 with the American giant and France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China and Russia, which sought to limit Iran's atomic programme, particularly in the field of weapons.  

The Trump Administration broke out of the agreement in 2018 by denouncing Iranian violations of the pact and imposed significant political and economic sanctions on the country, most notably those related to oil trade, Iran's main source of funding.  

Hassan Rohani reacted by threatening to break the basic points of the nuclear pact, such as those relating to uranium enrichment and the treatment of heavy water, to continue trading in his crude oil and to blockade the Straits of Hormuz, the main transit area for world oil trade.  

From there, there were incidents in Gulf waters and attacks on the oil and airport interests of the great Iranian enemy Saudi Arabia, for which Iran and pro-Iranian groups such as the Houthis in Yemen were blamed. The Persian country was singled out for threatening regional and world security, including by the vast majority of the Arab community.  

And the shadow of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and its Quds Force looms over these actions. This could be a measure of the importance this Iranian military corps may have.  

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