Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. In 2009, when demonstrations broke out amid allegations of irregularities in Ahmadinejad’s reelection, the IRGC was instrumental in suppressing the protests. President Ahmadinejad joined the IRGC in 1985, serving first in military operation in Iraqi Kurdistan before leaving the front line to take charge of logistics. the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps score in their 9-month sales ? Open menu. Translator. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic entrusted the defense of Iran's territorial integrity and political independence to the regular military (artesh), while it gave the Pasdaran the responsibility of preserving the Revolution itself. These operations would be against the Quds Force, the commando arm of the IRGC that had been blamed for repeated acts of violence in Iraq, and "high-value targets" in the war on terror. Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution ' or Sepâh for short) is a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces , founded after the Iranian Revolution on 22 April 1979 [5] by order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini . Ring in the new year with a Britannica Membership, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamic-Revolutionary-Guard-Corps, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) cadets. This was the largest transaction on the Tehran Stock Exchange in history. For the village in Iran, see, وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُمْ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ قُوَّةٍ, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, U.S. Department of the Treasury terrorist aid claims, Response to terrorist organization designation. Updates? [65], Two battalions of Revolutionary Guards were reported to be operating in Iraq trying to combat the 2014 Northern Iraq offensive. "[74][76] The statement by revolutionary guards did not mention how they recognized it as an Israeli drone. [3] The Naval Forces are estimated to size at least 20,000, including 5,000 Marines.[3]. Its parent corporation, PGPIC, has awarded major engineering, procurement, and construction contracts to the IRGC’s Khatam al-Anbiya, generating hundreds of millio… [75], Iranian authorities initially denied responsibility for the Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 incident. But a downed jetliner reignites dissent", "Iran admits to 'unintentionally' shooting down Ukrainian airliner, blames 'human error, "Iran's Khamenei defends Revolutionary Guard in rare Friday sermon", "Iran frees 2 soldiers kidnapped in Pakistan", "Iran's Revolutionary Guard acknowledges taking a bigger role in nation's security", "18 of Iran's 21 new ministers hail from Revolutionary Guards, secret police", "Fact Sheet: Designation of Iranian Entities and Individuals for Proliferation Activities and Support for Terrorism", "CRS Report for Congress – Iran's Economy – Order Code RL34525", "Iran's Rev. [112] On 8 April, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted in Hebrew that America's terrorist designation was the fulfillment of "another important request of mine. The permanence of the IRGC was formalized in the new constitution adopted later that year. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The participation of the IRGC in the Iran-Iraq War (1980–88) led to the expansion of both its role and its might, making it Iran’s dominant military force, with its own army, navy, and air force and, later, its own intelligence wing. [97] "The Guards' involvement in politics has grown to unprecedented levels since 2004, when IRCG won at least 16 percent of the 290 seats" in the Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran. [53], Prior to the Syrian war, Iran had between 2,000 and 3,000 IRGC officers stationed in Syria, helping to train local troops and managing supply routes of arms and money to neighboring Lebanon. [92] The IRGC exerts informal, but real, influence over many such organizations including: As an elite force with great economic assets it has developed into what some observers call an "untouchable élite" and somewhat isolated in Iranian society. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Persian Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enqelāb-e Eslāmi, also called Pasdaran, branch of the Iranian armed forces, independent of Iran’s regular army (the latter is sometimes called Artesh). …Iran’s military, followed by the Revolutionary Guards. Safshekan, Roozbeh; Sabet, Farzan, "The Ayatollah's Praetorians: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the 2009 Election Crisis", This page was last edited on 15 February 2021, at 18:26. [54], 194 IRGC troops have been killed in Syria; almost all of these soldiers were officers, with several even reaching the rank of Brigadier. "[13] Its expanded social, political, military and economic role under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration—especially during the 2009 presidential election and post-election suppression of protest—has led many Western analysts to argue that its political power has surpassed even that of the country's Shia clerical system. 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A referendum in March approved the establishment of an Islamic republic under the leadership of Khomeini, who had laid out the intellectual basis of an Islamic republic in the decades prior to the revolution. The elite Iranian military unit said members of its Flight Security Guard Corps foiled the plan. Although Iran’s armed forces had declared their neutrality to the revolution in February, many of the revolutionaries were fearful of a repeat of the 1953 countercoup, in which the military aided in the ouster of Mohammad Mosaddegh and the restoration of the shah. [10][11] Its media arm is Sepah News. [62] Another 21 Pakistanis also died as part of the Zainabiyoun Brigade. "[99] Additionally, Ahmadinejad successfully purged provincial governorships of Rafsanjani and Khatami supporters and replaced them not only with IRGC members, but also members of the Basij and the Islamic Republic prison administration. All fifteen passengers died, including twelve senior IRGC commanders. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. The Basij owns numerous “resistance bases” (Paygah) in most of the cities, villages, mosques and state buildings, which operate … 15 January 2009", "Khamenei names new chief for Iran's Revolutionary Guards", "Hard-Line Force Extends Grip Over a Splintered Iran", "Iran's Supreme Leader Replaces Head of Revolutionary Guards", "Commander-in-chief of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps", "Trump designates elite Iranian military force as a terrorist organization", "Saudi, Bahrain add Iran's IRGC to terror lists - SPA", "Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, part 2", "The alarming of Islamic revolutionary guard corps chief to the enemies", "Someone said, 'Lads, I think we're going to be executed' 7 April 2007", "Brainroom Facts: Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps", "Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (Quds Force)", "Fact Sheet: Treasury Designates Iranian Entities Tied to the IRGC and IRISL", "SECURITY COUNCIL TOUGHENS SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN, ADDS ARMS EMBARGO, WITH UNANIMOUS ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION 1747 (2007) | Meetings Coverage and Press Releases", "Iran and Syria advance SIGINT co-operation", "Guardians of the Islamic/muslim Revolution Ideology, Politics, and the Development of Military Power in Iran (1979–2009)", "Pasdaran – Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG)", https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-scientist-assassinated-mohsen-fakhrizadeh.html, "IRGC Revamps To Counter Enemy Within « Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc", "Q+A-Iran's Revolutionary Guards weave powerful web", "frontline: terror and Tehran: inside Iran: the structure of power in Iran", "Israel: Iran Aided Hezbollah Ship Attack", Military Plane Crashes in Iran; Senior Officer and 12 Others Die, "Preparing the Battlefield: The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran", "Larijani Blames US for Terrorist Attack on IRGC Commanders", Police Chief Holds Pakistan Accountable for Terror Attack in Iran, "US, UK behind attack on Guards, claims Iran", "Consider Jundallah's Attack in a Wider Context", "Iran arrests suspects in attack on military chiefs", "Iran confirms sending troops to Syria, says bloodshed otherwise would be worse", "Syrian forces capture final rebel stronghold in Qusair region", "Mapping the Deaths of Iranian Officers Across Syria", "Iranian media is revealing that scores of the country's fighters are dying in Syria", "Number of Iranian, Afghani fighters killed in Syrian civil war hits 400", "Iran's involvement in Syria, units and losses October 2015", "Shiite Combat Casualties Show the Depth of Iran's Involvement in Syria", "IRGC-Affiliated Website: Some 30 IRGC Officers Killed On Syrian Front In The Past Two Weeks", "US under pressure to act as Iran helps Iraq fight al-Qa'ida", "Qassem Suleimani: can this man bring about the downfall of Isis? It also controls the Basij militia. Another element was the Quds Force, a special forces element tasked with unconventional warfare roles and known to be involved in providing assistance and training to various militant organizations around the world. Iranian law defines the IRGC as “an institution commanded by the Supreme Leader whose purpose is to protect the Islamic Revolution of Iran and its accomplishments, while striving continuously . [42] [96], Greg Bruno and Jayshree Bajoria of the Council on Foreign Relations agree, stating that the IRGC has expanded well beyond its mandate and into a "socio-military-political-economic force" that deeply penetrates Iran's power structure. [89] IRGC has been awarded billions of dollars in contracts in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries, as well as major infrastructure projects. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ([IRGC] Persian: سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی , romanized: Sepâh-e Pâsdârân-e Enghelâb-e Eslâmi, lit. The purported hijacking […] April 21, 2019. Not to be confused with Revolutionary Guard Corps. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (2005–13), himself a veteran of the IRGC, both the political representation and the economic prowess of the IRGC ballooned. [34] It is separate from, and parallel to, the other arm of Iran's military, which is called Artesh (another Persian word for an army). [101] In the U.S. Department of the Treasury's report, four IRGC senior officials, Hushang Alladad, Hossein Musavi, Hasan Mortezavi, and Mohammad Reza Zahedi, were specifically named for providing support to terrorist organizations. Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) was set up 40 years ago to defend the country's Islamic system, and to provide a counterweight to the regular armed forces.