View source for Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

{{Short description|Military organization in Iran}}
{{redirect|IRGC}}
{{distinguish|text=the Libyan [[Revolutionary Guard Corps]]}}
{{protection padlock|reason=disruptive editing|expiry=12:50, 13 March 2017|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox national military
| name = Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
| native_name = {{lang|fa|سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی}}
| image = Seal of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.svg
| image_size = 150px
| caption = Seal of IRGC
| image2 = {{photomontage
| photo2a = Flag of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.svg
| photo2b = Ceremonial flag of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.svg
| size = 300
| spacing = 8
| color = transparent
| border = 0
}}
| caption2 = Official flag (left) and ceremonial flag (right)
| motto = [[Slogan (heraldry)|Heraldic slogan]]:<br />{{nowrap|{{lang|ar|وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُمْ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ قُوَّةٍ}}}} ([[Classical Arabic|Arabic]])<br />"Prepare against them what you 'believers' can of 'military' power." [https://quran.com/8?startingVerse=60 Quran 8:60]
| founded = {{start date and age|1979|05|05|df=y}} <small>(established)</small><ref name=Abedin11>{{cite journal |first=Mahan |last=Abedin |date=2011 |title= Iran's Revolutionary Guards: Ideological But Not Praetorian |journal=Strategic Analysis |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=381–385 |doi=10.1080/09700161.2011.559965|s2cid=153976967 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/timeline-military-and-security-events|title=Timeline of Military and Security Events|date=10 August 2021|website=[[United States Institute of Peace]]|access-date=17 April 2024|archive-date=5 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905162523/http://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/timeline-military-and-security-events|url-status=dead}}</ref>
{{Infobox war faction|child=yes
| ideology = {{Unbulleted list|class=nowrap
| [[Khomeinism]]<ref name="Foreign Policy 2023">{{Cite journal |last1=Nick Pay |first1=Vahid |last2=and Omond |first2=Andrew |date=2023-01-02 |title=Military Ideology and Foreign Policy: A Constructivist Examination of the IRGC'S Ideological Influence |journal=Asian Affairs |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=18–43 |doi=10.1080/03068374.2023.2174687 |issn=0306-8374 |quote=These efforts flow from Article 11 of the IRGC's 1982 statute, which expressly requires the organisation to train and educate its members according to Islamic teachings and to promote the Khomeinist constitutional principle of velayat-e faqīh (Guardianship of the Jurist) in ideological, political, and military domains|doi-access=free }}</ref> 
| [[Shia Islamism]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Shah |first=Sikander Ahmed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gekFEQAAQBAJ&pg=PA170 |title=Federalist Solutions to Pakistan's Political Crises |date=2024-04-30 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-6669-5546-0 |pages=170 |language=en |quote=Iran, already an Islamic Republic, leveraged the Shi'a Islamist Ideology to gain support and recruitment from within and beyond Iran, with a specific view towards defending against threats—real or perceived—to the Shi'a Muslim identity, and to further a revolutionary Shi'a Islamist ideology. Iran's military, specifically the IRGC, is unique in the sense of not only using sectarian differences to effect its political will domestically, but also to further its ideology beyond its national borders, garnering support and traction from Shi'a political pockets across the region.}}</ref>
| [[Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist]]<ref name="Foreign Policy 2023" /> 
| [[Jihadism]] ([[Jihad#Shia|Shia]])
| [[Islamic revival]]ism
| [[Islamic fundamentalism]]
| [[Pan-Islamism]]
| [[Social conservatism]]
| [[Shia–Sunni relations#Unity efforts|Shia–Sunni alliance]] (claimed)
| [[Anti-Zionism]]
}}
}}
| branches = {{plainlist|
# {{army|Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps|name=Ground Forces}}
# {{air force|Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps|name=Aerospace Force}}
# {{navy|Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps|name=Navy}}
# {{flagicon image|Flag of Quds Force.svg}} [[Quds Force]]
# {{flagicon image|Flag of Basij.svg}} [[Basij]]
}}
| headquarters = [[Tehran]], [[Iran]]
| website = {{URL|sepahnews.ir}}
| commander-in-chief = [[Mohammad Pakpour]]<ref>{{cite web | title=By EXECUTIVE ORDER OF THE SUPREME LEADER, Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has been appointed as TEMPORARY COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE IRGC | website=X (formerly Twitter) | url=https://x.com/IranianArForces/status/1933381741118468517 | access-date=June 13, 2025}}</ref>
| commander-in-chief_title = [[List of commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps#Commanders-in-Chief|Commander-in-Chief]]
| chief_of_staff = Cdre [[Ali Fadavi]]
| chief_of_staff_title = [[List of commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps#Deputy Commanders-in-Chief|Deputy Commander-in-Chief]]
| conscription = ≈50,000 (2019), recruited mostly from active members of Basij<ref>{{citation|first=Saeid|last=Golkar|url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyNote58-Golkar.pdf|title=The Supreme Leader and the Guard: Civil-Military Relations and Regime Survival in Iran|date=February 2019|publisher=[[The Washington Institute for Near East Policy]]|number=58|type=Policy Watch|page=3|access-date=23 August 2020|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129170432/https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyNote58-Golkar.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| active = ≈125,000 (2024)<ref>{{cite web|date=13 April 2024 |title=Iran's Revolutionary Guards: powerful group with wide regional reach |website=[[Reuters]] |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/irans-revolutionary-guards-powerful-group-with-wide-regional-reach-2024-04-01/}}</ref><ref name="IISS2020">{{cite book|author=The International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS)|title=The Military Balance 2020|year=2020|publisher=[[Routledge]]|chapter=Middle East and North Africa|volume=120|number=1|isbn=978-0-367-46639-8|doi=10.1080/04597222.2020.1707968|pages=348–352|s2cid=219624897}}</ref>
| amount = $6.96 billion (2020)<ref>{{citation|first=Henry|last=Rome|url=https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2020/jun/17/iran%E2%80%99s-defense-spending|title=Iran's Defense Spending|date=17 June 2020|work=The Iran Primer|publisher=The United States Institute for Peace|access-date=23 August 2020|archive-date=22 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622020326/https://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2020/jun/17/iran%E2%80%99s-defense-spending|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| history = {{tree list}}
* [[Kurdish separatism in Iran]]
** [[1979 Kurdish rebellion in Iran|1979 Kurdish rebellion]]
** [[KDPI insurgency (1989–1996)]]
** [[Iran–PJAK conflict]]
** [[Western Iran clashes (2016–present)]]
* [[Arab separatism in Khuzestan]]
** [[1979 Khuzestan insurgency]]
* [[Iran–Iraq War]]
* [[Lebanese Civil War]]
* [[United States invasion of Afghanistan]]
** [[2001 uprising in Herat]]
* [[Balochistan conflict]]
** [[Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency]]
* [[2006 Lebanon War]]
* [[2009 Iranian presidential election protests]]
* [[Insurgency in Bahrain]]
* [[Syrian Civil War]] ([[Iranian intervention in the Syrian civil war|intervention]])
* [[War in Iraq (2013–2017)]]
* [[Iranian intervention in Iraq (2014–present)]]
* [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] ([[Iran and the Russian invasion of Ukraine|intervention]])
* [[Attacks on US bases during the Gaza war]]
* [[2024 Iran-Israel conflict]]
* [[Iran–Israel War]]
* '''Proxy conflicts with''':
* [[Iran–Israel proxy conflict|Israel]]
* [[Iran-Saudi Arabia proxy conflict|Saudi Arabia]]
* [[Iran–Turkey proxy conflict|Turkey]] (low-intensity since 2024)
{{tree list/end}}
| ranks = [[Rank insignia of the Iranian military]]
{{Infobox war faction|child=yes
| designated_as_terror_group_by = {{plainlist|
* {{Flag|Australia}} (expected)<ref>{{URL|https://theconversation.com/the-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-will-be-proscribed-as-a-terrorist-organisation-what-does-this-mean-263922 | The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will be proscribed as a terrorist organisation. What does this mean?}}</ref>
* {{Flag|Bahrain}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=12342&language=en-US|title=Bahrain Terrorist List (individuals – entities)|publisher=Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain|access-date=3 March 2020|archive-date=17 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017055422/https://www.mofa.gov.bh/Default.aspx?tabid=12342&language=en-US|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Canada}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx|title=Currently listed entities|work=Public Safety Canada|date=21 December 2018|publisher=Government of Canada|access-date=2 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301160957/https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-en.aspx|archive-date=1 March 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Ecuador}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-16 |title=Ecuador Labels IRGC as "Terrorist Organization" |url=https://wanaen.com/ecuador-labels-irgc-as-terrorist-organization/ |access-date=2025-09-16 |website=WANA |language=en-US}}</ref>
* {{flag|Paraguay}}<ref name="upi.com" />
* {{Flag|Saudi Arabia}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Saudi, Bahrain add Iran's Revolutionary Guards to terrorism lists |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-bahrain-security-iran/saudi-bahrain-add-irans-revolutionary-guards-to-terrorism-lists-idUSKCN1MX288 |access-date=8 April 2019 |work=Reuters|date=23 October 2018 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408154459/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-bahrain-security-iran/saudi-bahrain-add-irans-revolutionary-guards-to-terrorism-lists-idUSKCN1MX288 |archive-date=8 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{Flag|Sweden}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.iranintl.com/en/202305102418|title=Swedish Parliament Votes To Designate Iran's IRGC As Terrorist|date=7 June 2023|website=Iran International|access-date=15 May 2023|archive-date=15 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230515123355/https://www.iranintl.com/en/202305102418|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{Flag|United States}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/sm0177.aspx|title=Treasury Designates the IRGC under Terrorism Authority and Targets IRGC and Military Supporters under Counter-Proliferation Authority|website=treasury.gov|access-date=28 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615043358/https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/sm0177.aspx|archive-date=15 June 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{flag|Israel}} (Quds Force only)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nbctf.mod.gov.il/he/Announcements/Documents/%D7%A7%D7%95%D7%91%D7%A5%20%D7%94%D7%AA%D7%A7%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%AA-11473.pdf|title=Designation of Terrorist Organizations|website=NBCTF|access-date=27 June 2025}}</ref>
}}
}}
}}

The '''Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps''' ('''IRGC'''),{{efn|{{langx|fa|سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی|Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enqelāb-e Eslāmī}}, {{literal translation|Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution}}}} also known as the '''Iranian Revolutionary Guards''',<ref>
* {{Cite web |title=Iranian Revolutionary Guards capture commercial ship in Persian Gulf |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=7 July 2023 |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian-revolutionary-guards-capture-commercial-ship-in-persian-gulf/ |access-date=14 August 2024 |archive-date=21 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621172602/https://www.timesofisrael.com/iranian-revolutionary-guards-capture-commercial-ship-in-persian-gulf/ |url-status=live }}
* {{Cite news |last=Rothwell |first=James |date=4 January 2023 |title=Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander mysteriously 'shot dead on doorstep' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/04/iranian-revolutionary-guards-commander-mysteriously-shot-dead/ |access-date=14 August 2024 |work=The Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=21 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621141032/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/04/iranian-revolutionary-guards-commander-mysteriously-shot-dead/ |url-status=live |ref=none}}
* {{Cite web |date=10 February 2024 |title=Iranian Revolutionary Guards die in suspected poisoning in Syria – report |url=https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-786185 |access-date=14 August 2024 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |language=en |archive-date=21 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621141033/https://www.jpost.com//middle-east/iran-news/article-786185 |url-status=live |issn=0792-822X}}
* {{Cite web |title=Iranian Revolutionary Guard 'on the ground' aiding Russia in Crimea, says intelligence report |url=https://news.sky.com/story/iranian-revolutionary-guard-on-the-ground-aiding-russia-in-crimea-says-intelligence-report-12725990 |access-date=14 August 2024 |website=Sky News |language=en |archive-date=21 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621141032/https://news.sky.com/story/iranian-revolutionary-guard-on-the-ground-aiding-russia-in-crimea-says-intelligence-report-12725990 |url-status=live }}</ref> is a multi-service primary branch of the [[Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces|Iranian Armed Forces]]. It was officially established by [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] as a military branch in May 1979 in the aftermath of the [[Iranian Revolution]].<ref name=Abedin11 /><ref name="IISS">''[[IISS]] Military Balance 2006'', Routledge for the IISS, London, 2006, p. 187</ref> Whereas the [[Islamic Republic of Iran Army|Iranian Army]] protects the country's sovereignty in a traditional capacity, the IRGC's constitutional mandate is to ensure the integrity of the [[Khomeinism|Islamic Republic]].<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7064353.stm "Profile: Iran's Revolutionary Guards"] . BBC News. 18 October 2009.</ref> Most interpretations of this mandate assert that it entrusts the IRGC with preventing foreign interference in [[Iran]], thwarting coups by the traditional military, and crushing "deviant movements" that harm the ideological legacy of the Islamic Revolution.<ref>{{cite web |author=Morris M Mottale |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/focus/2010/04/2010421104845169224.html |title=The birth of a new class – Focus |publisher=Al Jazeera English |access-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150607031209/http://www.aljazeera.com/focus/2010/04/2010421104845169224.html |archive-date=7 June 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{As of|2024}}, the IRGC had approximately 125,000 total personnel. The [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy|IRGC Navy]] is now Iran's primary force exercising operational control over the [[Persian Gulf]],<ref name="globalbearings1">[https://web.archive.org/web/20120203193602/http://www.globalbearings.net/2011/12/view-irgc-naval-bases-in-larger-map.html "The Consequences of a Strike on Iran: The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy"] ''GlobalBearings.net'', 15 December 2011.</ref> serving as a ''de facto'' [[coast guard]]. The IRGC's [[Basij]], a paramilitary volunteer militia, has a further approximately 90,000 active personnel.<ref name="Abrahamian, Ervand p.175-6">Abrahamian, Ervand, ''History of Modern Iran'', Columbia University Press, 2008 pp. 175–76</ref><ref name="rferl">{{cite news|last=Aryan|first=Hossein|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/Irans_Basij_Force_Mainstay_Of_Domestic_Security/1357081.html|title=Iran's Basij Force – The Mainstay of Domestic Security. 15 January 2009|agency=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=5 February 2009 |publisher=RFERL|access-date=25 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120110190716/http://www.rferl.org/content/Irans_Basij_Force_Mainstay_Of_Domestic_Security/1357081.html|archive-date=10 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> It operates a media arm, known as "Sepah News" within Iran.<ref>[https://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21572915-digital-imaging-insurers-publishers-law-enforcement-agencies-and-dating-sites-are "Picture imperfect"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012103429/https://www.economist.com/news/technology-quarterly/21572915-digital-imaging-insurers-publishers-law-enforcement-agencies-and-dating-sites-are |date=12 October 2017}} 9 March 2013 ''[[The Economist]]''</ref> On 16 March 2022, it adopted a new independent branch called the "Command for the Protection and Security of Nuclear Centres" involved with [[Nuclear program of Iran|Iran's nuclear program]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-60744049.amp |title=برای حفاظت از تاسیسات هسته‌ای ایران، 'فرماندهی سپاه هسته‌ای' تشکیل شده است |trans-title=In order to protect Iran's nuclear facilities, the "Nuclear Corps Command" has been established |date=15 March 2022 |access-date=23 March 2022 |archive-date=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316030728/https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran-60744049.amp |url-status=live}}</ref> Currently, the IRGC is designated as a terrorist organization by [[Australia]], [[Bahrain]], [[Canada]], [[Ecuador]], [[Paraguay]], [[Saudi Arabia]], [[Sweden]] and the [[United States]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/politics/iran-us-irgc-designation/index.html|title=Trump designates elite Iranian military force as a terrorist organization|author=Nicole Gaouette|website=CNN|date=8 April 2019|access-date=10 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514022257/https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/08/politics/iran-us-irgc-designation/index.html|archive-date=14 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.euronews.com/2018/10/23/saudi-bahrain-add-irans-irgc-to-terror-lists-spa|title=Saudi, Bahrain add Iran's IRGC to terror lists – SPA|date=23 October 2018|website=euronews|language=en|access-date=10 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510040315/https://www.euronews.com/2018/10/23/saudi-bahrain-add-irans-irgc-to-terror-lists-spa|archive-date=10 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="bbc20240619">{{Cite news |last=Yousif |first=Nadine |date=19 June 2024 |title=Canada lists Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn00nd1n4y2o |agency=[[BBC News]] |access-date=20 June 2024 |archive-date=21 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240621142222/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn00nd1n4y2o |url-status=live }}</ref>

Originating as an ideological militia, the IRGC has taken on a growing role in nearly every aspect of Iranian politics, [[Economic activities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps|economics]] (including [[Iranian energy crisis|energy]] and [[Food inflation in Iran|food]] industries) and society. In 2010, [[BBC News]] described the organization as a "business empire".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gregory |first=Mark |date=26 July 2010 |title=Expanding business empire of Iran's Revolutionary Guards |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-10743580 |agency=BBC News}}</ref> In 2019, [[Reuters]] described it as "an industrial empire with political clout".<ref name="rhafez">{{cite news |last1=Hafezi |first1=Parisa |date=21 April 2019 |title=Khamenei names new chief for Iran's Revolutionary Guards |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-guards/khamenei-names-new-chief-for-irans-revolutionary-guards-idUSKCN1RX0JN |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730013615/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-guards/khamenei-names-new-chief-for-irans-revolutionary-guards-idUSKCN1RX0JN |archive-date=30 July 2019 |access-date=19 September 2020 |work=Reuters}}</ref> IRGC's expanded social, political, military, and economic role under [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]]—especially during the [[2009 Iranian presidential election|2009 presidential election]] and the [[2009 Iranian presidential election protests|suppression of post-election protests]]—has led many [[Western world|Western analysts]] to argue that it has surpassed even the country's [[Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist|ruling clerical class]] in terms of political power.<ref name=NYT20090721 /><ref name=BBC20090721>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8161824.stm|title=Arrests at new Iranian protests|date=21 July 2009|agency=BBC News|access-date=21 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722100913/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8161824.stm|archive-date=22 July 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="stratfor">{{cite web|url=http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/8877/ |title=Crisis as Opportunity for the IRGC |date=27 July 2009 |publisher=[[Stratfor]] |access-date=1 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805170755/http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/8877 |archive-date=5 August 2009}}</ref><ref name="abdo">{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/10/07/the_rise_of_the_Iranian_dictatorship|title=The Rise of the Iranian Dictatorship|date=7 October 2009|work=[[Foreign Policy (magazine)|Foreign Policy]]|author=Abdo, Geneive|access-date=13 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091011093529/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/10/07/the_rise_of_the_Iranian_dictatorship |archive-date=11 October 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>

From 2019 to 2025, [[Hossein Salami]] served as the IRGC's incumbent commander-in-chief.<ref name=gladnyt>{{cite news |last1=Gladstone |first1=Rick |title=Iran's Supreme Leader Replaces Head of Revolutionary Guards |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/21/world/middleeast/iran-revolutionary-guards-leader.html |access-date=10 May 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=21 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422115137/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/21/world/middleeast/iran-revolutionary-guards-leader.html |archive-date=22 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="rhafez" /> He was killed along with [[Casualties of the Iran–Israel war#Notable deaths|numerous senior officers]] during the [[Iran–Israel war#13 June|wave of Israeli strikes]] launched on 13 June 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2025-06-13 |title=مرگ سردار سلامی و تنی چند از فرماندهان سپاه |url=https://www.irna.ir/news/85860919/%D8%B4%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%AA-%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%DB%8C-%D9%88-%D8%AA%D9%86%DB%8C-%DA%86%D9%86%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B3%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%87 |access-date=2025-06-13 |website=ایرنا |language=fa}}</ref>

== Terminology ==
Government organizations in Iran are commonly known by one-word names (that generally denote their function) rather than acronyms or shortened versions, and the general populace universally refers to the IRGC as '''''Sepâh''''' ({{lang|fa|سپاه}}) ([[Sepoy]]; [[Sipahi]]). ''Sepâh'' has a historical connotation of soldiers, while in modern Persian it is also used to describe a corps-sized unit – in modern Persian ''Artesh'' ({{lang|fa|ارتش}}) is the more standard term for an army.

'''''Pâsdârân''''' ({{lang|fa|پاسداران}}) is the plural form of '''''Pâsdâr''''' ({{lang|fa|پاسدار}}), meaning "Guardian", and members of Sepah are known as ''Pāsdār'', which is also their title and comes after [[Rank Insignia of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution|their rank]].

Apart from the name ''Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irna.ir/mazandaran/fa/News/259699/ |title=Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps |publisher=irna.ir |access-date=12 February 2019}}{{dead link|date=March 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.irib.ir/electionVideoArchive/214/2 |title=Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, part 2 |publisher=irib.ir |access-date=12 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213005550/https://www.irib.ir/electionVideoArchive/214/ |archive-date=13 February 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iribnews.ir/fa/news/2352384/ |title=The alarming of Islamic revolutionary guard corps chief to the enemies. |publisher=iribnews.ir |access-date=12 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213005658/http://www.iribnews.ir/fa/news/2352384/ |archive-date=13 February 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> the Iranian Government, media, and those who identify with the organization generally use '''''Sepāh-e Pâsdârân''''' (Army of the Guardians), although it is not uncommon to hear '''''Pâsdârân-e Enghelâb''''' ({{lang|fa|پاسداران انقلاب}}) (Guardians of the Revolution), or simply '''''Pâsdârân''''' ({{lang|fa|پاسداران}}) (Guardians) as well. Among the Iranian population, and especially among diaspora Iranians, using the word ''Pasdaran'' indicates hatred or admiration for the organization.

Most foreign governments and the English-speaking mass media tend to use the term '''''Iranian Revolutionary Guards''''' ('''IRG''') or simply the '''''Revolutionary Guards'''''.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Steven Morris |author2=Ewen MacAskill |name-list-style=amp |url=https://www.theguardian.com/frontpage/story/0,,2051927,00.html |title=Someone said, 'Lads, I think we're going to be executed' 7 April 2007|newspaper=Guardian|date=7 April 2007|access-date=25 December 2011|location=London}}</ref> In the US media, the force is frequently referred to interchangeably as the '''''Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps''''' or the '''''Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps''''' ('''IRGC''').<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/brainroom-facts-irans-revolutionary-guard-corps|title=Brainroom Facts: Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps|date=23 March 2007|publisher=Fox News|access-date=25 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016033433/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,260645,00.html|archive-date=16 October 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/topic/organization/islamic-revolutionary-guards-corps-quds-force|title=Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (Quds Force)|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=7 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160330034737/http://www.nytimes.com/topic/organization/islamic-revolutionary-guards-corps-quds-force|archive-date=30 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17175607/site/newsweek/ |title=The New Enemy? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401125205/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17175607/site/newsweek/ |archive-date=1 April 2007 |author1=Hirsch, Michael |author2=Dehghanpisheh, Babak |author3=Hosenball, Mark |work=Newsweek |date=15 February 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Chua-Eoan|first=Howard|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1602389,00.html?cnn=yes |title=Why Iran Seized the British Marines|magazine=Time|date=23 March 2007|access-date=25 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111220061939/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1602389,00.html?cnn=yes|archive-date=20 December 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> The US government standard is ''Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps'',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1010.aspx|title=Fact Sheet: Treasury Designates Iranian Entities Tied to the IRGC and IRISL|website=treasury.gov|access-date=7 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413175456/https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1010.aspx|archive-date=13 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> while the United Nations uses ''Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2007/sc8980.doc.htm|title=SECURITY COUNCIL TOUGHENS SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN, ADDS ARMS EMBARGO, WITH UNANIMOUS ADOPTION OF RESOLUTION 1747 (2007) {{!}} Meetings Coverage and Press Releases|website=un.org|access-date=7 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160413052751/http://www.un.org/press/en/2007/sc8980.doc.htm|archive-date=13 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the emblem of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)- Seal of IRGC- , the sentence above the [[weapon]] consists of a segment of the [[Quran|Quranic]] verse from Surah [[Al-Anfal]] '''—وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُمْ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ قُوَّةٍ—'''which, according to the translation by [[Abdullah Yusuf Ali]], reads:
"Against them make ready your strength to the utmost of your power."<ref>{{cite web | title=ترجمه‌ى معانی سوره انفال - ترجمه انگلیسی - مرکز نور اینترنشنال - شماره‌ى صفحه 177 | url=https://quranenc.com/fa/browse/english_saheeh/8-1 }}</ref><ref>http://www.parsquran.com/</ref>

== Organization ==
{{IRGC}}
The force's main role is to provide national security. It is responsible for internal and border security, law enforcement, and also [[Air Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution|Iran's missile forces]]. IRGC operations are geared towards [[asymmetric warfare]] and less traditional duties. These include the control of smuggling, control of the [[Strait of Hormuz]], and resistance operations.<ref name="janesprofile">{{cite web| date=29 August 2006 |title=Jane's World Armies profile: Iran|work=JDW|publisher=Jane's Information Group |url=http://www.janes.co.uk/defence/news/jwar/jwar060829_1_n.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103181014/http://www.janes.co.uk/defence/news/jwar/jwar060829_1_n.shtml |archive-date=3 January 2007}} (extract). {{subscription required}}</ref> The IRGC is intended to complement the more traditional role of the regular Iranian military, with the two forces operating separately and focusing on different operational roles.<ref name="janesprofile"/>

The IRGC is a combined arms force with [[Ground Forces of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution|its own ground forces]], [[Navy of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution|navy]],<ref name="globalbearings1"/> [[Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution|air force]], [[Intelligence Organization of Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution|intelligence]],<ref>{{cite web|date=4 October 2006 |title=Iran and Syria advance SIGINT co-operation|first=Robin |last=Hughes |publisher=Janes Information Group |work=JDW |url=http://www.janes.co.uk/security/international_security/news/jdw/jdw061004_1_n.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103021647/http://www.janes.co.uk/security/international_security/news/jdw/jdw061004_1_n.shtml |archive-date=3 January 2007}}</ref> and [[Special forces of Iran#Revolutionary Guards|special forces]]. It also controls the [[Basij]] militia. The Basij is a volunteer-based force, with 90,000 regular soldiers and 300,000 reservists. The IRGC is officially recognized as a component of the Iranian military under Article 150 of the [[Iranian Constitution]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/ir00000_.html |title=ICL – Iran – Constitution |access-date=23 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071114195529/http://www.servat.unibe.ch/law/icl/ir00000_.html |archive-date=14 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It is separate from, and parallel to, the other arm of [[Iran]]'s military, which is called [[Islamic Republic of Iran Army|Artesh]] (another Persian word for an army). Especially in the waters of the [[Persian Gulf]], the IRGC is expected to assume control of any Iranian response to attacks on its nuclear facilities.<ref name="globalbearings1" />

=== History and structure ===
The IRGC was formed on 5 May 1979<ref name=ostovar>{{cite web|last=Ostovar|first=Afshon P.|title=Guardians of the Islamic/muslim Revolution Ideology, Politics, and the Development of Military Power in Iran (1979–2009)|url=http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/64683/afshon_1.pdf;jsessionid=DF7BFA33BF18FF73E9117CB0504F14E1?sequence=1|publisher=University of Michigan|access-date=26 July 2013|format=PhD Thesis|year=2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002151205/http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/64683/afshon_1.pdf;jsessionid=DF7BFA33BF18FF73E9117CB0504F14E1?sequence=1|archive-date=2 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Rise of the Pasdaran|url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG821.pdf|publisher=RAND Corporation|access-date=20 August 2013|author=Frederic Wehrey|author2=Jerrold D. Green|author3=Brian Nichiporuk|author4=Alireza Nader|author5=Lydia Hansell|author6=Rasool Nafisi|author7=S. R. Bohandy|year=2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007200210/http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG821.pdf|archive-date=7 October 2013|url-status=live|author-link=Frederic Wehrey}}</ref> following the [[Iranian Revolution]] of 1979 in an effort to consolidate several paramilitary forces into a single force loyal to the new government and to function as a counter to the influence and power of the regular military, initially seen as a potential source of opposition because of its traditional loyalty to the Shah. From the beginning of the new Islamic government, the Pasdaran (Pasdaran-e Enghelab-e Islami) functioned as a corps of the faithful. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic entrusted the defense of Iran's territorial integrity and political independence to [[Iranian Army|the regular military (''artesh'')]], while it gave the Pasdaran the responsibility of preserving the Revolution itself.<ref name="CFR" />

Days after Ayatollah [[Ruhollah Khomeini's return]] to [[Tehran]] on 1 February 1979, [[Mehdi Bazargan]]'s interim administration established the Pasdaran under a decree issued by [[Khomeini]] on 5 May. The Pasdaran was intended to protect the Revolution and to assist the ruling clerics in the day-to-day enforcement of the new government's Islamic codes and morality. There were other, perhaps more important, reasons for establishing the Pasdaran. The Revolution needed to rely on a force of its own rather than borrowing the previous regime's tainted units. As one of the first revolutionary institutions, the Pasdaran helped legitimize the Revolution and gave the new government an armed basis of support. Moreover, the establishment of the Pasdaran served notice to both the population and the regular armed forces that the Khomeini government was quickly developing its own enforcement body.<ref name="CFR" />

Thus, the Pasdaran, along with its political counterpart, Crusade for Reconstruction, brought a new order to Iran. In time, the Pasdaran would rival the police and the judiciary in terms of its functions.
[[File:IRGC naval exercise-2015 (11).jpg|thumbnail|228x228px|IRGC's naval special forces of [[Sepah Navy Special Force|S.N.S.F.]] during [[Great Prophet IX]]]]
Although the IRGC operated independently of the regular armed forces, it was often considered to be a military force in its own right due to its important role in Iranian defense. The IRGC consists of ground, naval, and aviation troops, which parallel the structure of the regular military. The Pasdaran was "given control of [[Iran's ballistic missiles program|Iran's ballistic missile program]] in both missile employment and development.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Frick |first1=Matthew M. |title=Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. An Open Source Analysis |journal=JFQ |date=2008 |issue=49 |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA516529.pdf |access-date=11 October 2022 |archive-date=3 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403152145/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA516529.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Also contained under the umbrella of the more conventional Pasdaran, were the Basij Forces (Mobilization Resistance Force), a network of potentially up to a million active individuals who could be called upon in times of need. The Basij could be committed to assist in the defense of the country against internal or external threats, but by 2008 had also been deployed in mobilizing voters in elections and alleged tampering during such activities. 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.<ref name="CFR" />

The Pasdaran is closely associated with Supreme Leader Khamenei who came to power in 1989, and used the Pasdaran to build support using [[Wealth of Khamenei family|expropriated state resources]]. Reportedly he reached "far down into the ranks and appointed new colonels and brigadiers. 'Khamenei micromanages the whole system, so everyone is loyal to him, He is hyperactive. He knows every low-ranking commander and even the names of their children'", according to Mehdi Khalaji of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.<ref name="Filkins-iran-5-18-2020" />

The Basij and Pasdaran were instrumental in crushing the [[Iranian Green Movement|Green Movement]], and this power gave them political supremecy in Iran. According to at least one source (Abbas Milani, the director of the Iranian Studies program at Stanford), the regime "clearly ... believed it was going to lose control, and the IRGC and the Basij saved the day. The result is that the IRGC now has the upper hand. Khamenei knows that without the IRGC he'd be out of a job in twenty-four hours."<ref name="Filkins-NYer-24-5-2020">{{cite magazine |last=Filkins |first=Dexter |title=The Twilight of the Iranian Revolution |magazine=The New Yorker |date=24 May 2020 |url=https://americanuestra.com/the-twilight-of-the-iranian-revolution/#:~:text=The%20Twilight%20of%20the%20Iranian%20Revolution%20For%20decades%2C,-%20The%20New%20Yorker%20mayo%2024%2C%202020%2058 |access-date=11 October 2022 |archive-date=11 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221011025056/https://americanuestra.com/the-twilight-of-the-iranian-revolution/#:~:text=The%20Twilight%20of%20the%20Iranian%20Revolution%20For%20decades%2C,-%20The%20New%20Yorker%20mayo%2024%2C%202020%2058 |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:2019 Sacred Defence Week parade (152).jpg|thumb|[[Toofan (MRAP)|Toofan]] [[MRAP]]s, during the [[Sacred Defence Week|Sacred Defense Parade]], 2019]]
[[Yahya Rahim Safavi]], head of the IRGC since 1997, was dismissed as commander in chief of the Revolutionary Guards in August 2007. The dismissal of Safavi disrupted the balance of power in Iran to the advantage of conservatives. Analysis in the international press considered the removal of Safavi to be a sign of change in the defense strategies of Iran, but the general policies of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps are not personally determined by its commander.<ref name="CFR">{{cite web|url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/irans-revolutionary-guards|title=Iran's Revolutionary Guards|publisher=Council of Foreign Relations|access-date=2 October 2023|date=20 April 2023|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020120758/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/irans-revolutionary-guards|url-status=live}}</ref>

Iran's top nuclear scientist, [[Mohsen Fakhrizadeh]], was assassinated in [[Tehran]], Iran on 27 November 2020. Fakhrizadeh was believed to be the primary force behind Iran's covert nuclear program for many decades. The ''[[New York Times]]'' reported that Israel's Mossad was behind that attack and that [[Mick Mulroy]], the former Deputy Defense Secretary for the Middle East said the death of Fakhirizadeh was "a setback to Iran's nuclear program" and he was also a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and that "will magnify Iran's desire to respond by force."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-scientist-assassinated-mohsen-fakhrizadeh.html |title=State Media Says Iran's Top Nuclear Scientist Killed in Ambush |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=27 November 2020 |access-date=14 March 2022 |archive-date=27 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127210300/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/27/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-scientist-assassinated-mohsen-fakhrizadeh.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Corps have occasionally distributed food aid packages.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://kayhan.london/1399/04/16/202485/ | title=توزیع جیره غذایی معادل "۲۰ دلار" توسط سپاه و بسیج بین مردم؛ اسحاق جهانگیری: آمریکا در فروپاشی اقتصاد ایران شکست خورده! }}</ref>

=== Military structure ===
{{Ranks of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps}}
In late July 2008, reports originating that the IRGC was in the process of dramatically changing its structure. In a shake-up, in September 2008 Iran's Revolutionary Guards established 31 divisions and an autonomous missile command. The new structure changes the IRGC from a centralized to a decentralized force with 31 provincial corps, whose commanders wield extensive authority and power. According to the plan, each of Iran's thirty provinces will have a provincial corps, except Tehran Province, which will have two.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://spcwashington.com/?p=549 |title=IRGC Revamps To Counter Enemy Within « Strategic Policy Consulting, Inc |date=22 October 2010 |publisher=Spcwashington.com |access-date=15 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109203341/http://spcwashington.com/?p=549 |archive-date=9 January 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Cyber Security Command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ====
{{Main|Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Cyber Security Command}}
In 2007 command for cyber security was established part of cyberdefense of IRGC. It was renamed in 2014, abbreviated GCDC or CIOC.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aei.org/articles/supreme-leader-do-not-let-the-enemy-dominate-cyberspace/|title=Supreme Leader: Do Not Let the Enemy Dominate Cyberspace|work=American Enterprise Institute – AEI |access-date=7 May 2023|archive-date=7 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230507093137/https://www.aei.org/articles/supreme-leader-do-not-let-the-enemy-dominate-cyberspace/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Advanced Persistent Threat 34]]

==== Joint Staff ====
{{Main|Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Joint Staff}}

==== Basij ====
{{Main|Basij}}
[[File:18-Karar tank -تانک کرار.jpg|thumb|[[Karrar (tank)|Karrar]] [[main battle tank]] of the IRGC-GF, participating in the Great Prophet XVII military exercise]]
Basij Mustazafin were initially separate organizations but were merged in 1980 into Corps and merged to its land forces since 2008.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ir.voanews.com/a/a-31-2007-10-02-voa14-62498022/605599.html | title=بررسی ادغام سپاه پاسداران و نيروی بسيج از ديد دکتر عليرضا نوری زاده | date=2 October 2007 | access-date=9 January 2024 | archive-date=9 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240109035815/https://ir.voanews.com/amp/a-31-2007-10-02-voa14-62498022/605599.html | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran/2009/10/091008_op_sepah_restructuring.amp | title=تغییرات مهم و تجدید ساختار: سپاه آماده می شود | work=BBC News فارسی | date=8 October 2009 | access-date=9 January 2024 | archive-date=9 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240109035810/https://www.bbc.com/persian/iran/2009/10/091008_op_sepah_restructuring.amp | url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.radiofarda.com/a/f6_Iran_Sepah_Basij/1843255.html | title=ادغام بسیج در سپاه؛ آمادگی بیشتر برای مقابله با تظاهرات | newspaper=رادیو فردا | date=5 October 2009 | last1=بوالهری | first1=روزبه }}</ref>
The Basij is a paramilitary volunteer militia or "plainclothes militia" founded by the order of the [[Ayatollah Khomeini]] in November 1979. On 4 November 1979, in an address to the Revolutionary Guards during the [[Iran hostage crisis]], Khomeini ordered the creation of an army of "twenty million Iranians" (''Artesh-e bis million''), proclaiming:

<blockquote>Equip yourself, get military training and train your friends. Give military training to those who are not trained. In an Islamic country, everyone should be a soldier and have military training. ... a country with 20 million young people [should have] 20 million riflemen, an army of 20 million"<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/11/27/iran-told-to-prepare-for-war/f48bc2af-4d6c-4f62-95ae-6f3cddf9d824/|title=Iran Told to Prepare for War|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=27 November 1979|access-date=11 January 2022|archive-date=7 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807190416/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1979/11/27/iran-told-to-prepare-for-war/f48bc2af-4d6c-4f62-95ae-6f3cddf9d824/|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

This pronouncement and Article 151 of the constitution, which calls for the government to "provide a program of military training, with all requisite facilities, for all its citizens, in accordance with the Islamic criteria, in such a way that all citizens will always be able to engage in the armed defense of the Islamic Republic of Iran," are believed to refer to the Basij.<ref name="USIoP">{{cite web |title=The Basij Resistance Force |url=https://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/basij-resistance-force |website=Iran Primer |publisher=United States Institute of Peace |access-date=11 October 2022 |date=6 October 2010 |archive-date=25 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225185318/https://iranprimer.usip.org/resource/basij-resistance-force |url-status=dead }}</ref> While "Iranian official estimates sometime put their total part-time and full-time strength at more than 20 million", others estimate the Basij as having "a core strength of 90,000, and up to 600,000" (CSIS, 11 January 2018, p.{{spaces}}4); at 100,000 with "hundreds of thousands of additional Basij could be mobilized in the event or an all-out war" (CRS, 23 May 2018, p.{{spaces}}18).<ref name="CFR" />

The Basij are "the most visible symbol" of the Pasdaran's strength, whose members "can be seen on street corners in every Iranian city".<ref name="Filkins-iran-5-18-2020" /> They are (at least in theory) subordinate to, and receive their orders from, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. However they have also been described as "a loosely allied group of organizations" including "many groups controlled by local clerics." Currently, the Basij serve as an auxiliary force engaged in activities such as internal security as well as law enforcement auxiliary, the providing of social service, organizing of public religious ceremonies, and as [[Islamic religious police|morality police]] and the suppression of dissident gatherings.

==== Quds Force ====
{{Main|Quds Force}}
The elite [[Quds Force]] (or Jerusalem Force), sometimes described as the successor to the [[Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah]]'s [[Iranian Imperial Guard|Imperial Guards]], is estimated to be 2,000–5,000 in number.<ref name="Abrahamian, Ervand p.175-6"/> It is a special operations unit, handling activities abroad.<ref name=rhafez /><ref name=ReutersQA>{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLM225970 |title=Q+A-Iran's Revolutionary Guards weave powerful web |date=23 July 2009 |work=Reuters |access-date=24 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726075626/http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLM225970 |archive-date=26 July 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> The force's main mission is training, directing, and liasoning with [[Axis of Resistance|Iranian proxies]].

==== Aerospace Force ====
{{main|Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps}}
[[File:Qased SLV first launch 02.jpg|thumb|230x230px|Launch of the [[Qased (rocket)|Qased]] SLV]]
The '''Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force''' or '''Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Air and Space Force'''<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/iranian-missile-threat |website=Center for Strategic and International Studies | title=The Iranian Missile Threat | date=30 May 2019 | last1=Cordesman | first1=Anthony H. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604162509/https://www.csis.org/analysis/iranian-missile-threat |archive-date= 4 June 2023 }}</ref> (IRGCASF; {{langx|fa|نیروی هوافضای سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی|niru-ye havâfazây-e sepâh-e pâsdârân-e enghelâb-e eslâmi}}, officially acronymed '''NEHSA'''){{citation needed|date=February 2022}} is the [[strategic missile]], [[air force|air]], and [[space force]] within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of [[Iran]]. It was renamed from the IRGC Air Force into the IRGC Aerospace Force in 2009.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.dia.mil/Portals/27/Documents/News/Military%20Power%20Publications/Iran_Military_Power_LR.pdf |title=Iran Military Power |date=2019 |publisher=Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting |isbn=978-0-16-095157-2 |via=Defense Intelligence Agency |access-date=3 April 2021 |archive-date=24 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624172320/https://www.dia.mil/Portals/27/Documents/News/Military%20Power%20Publications/Iran_Military_Power_LR.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Its 15,000 personnel man around 80 aircraft and operates several thousand short- and medium-range mobile ballistic missiles, including the Shahab-3/3B with a range of up to 2,100 kilometers.

==== Navy ====
{{Main|Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps}}
[[File:IRIS FS313-01 Shahid Soleimani in 2022 Sacred Defence Week parade.jpg|thumb|229x229px|[[Iranian corvette Shahid Soleimani|FS313-01 Shahid Soleimani]] in 2022 during the [[Sacred Defence Week]] parade]]
IRGC started naval operations using mainly swarm tactics and speedboats during "[[Tanker War]]" phase of the Iran–Iraq War.

IRGC Navy and the regular [[Islamic Republic of Iran Navy|''Artesh'' Navy]] overlap functions and areas of responsibility, but they are distinct in terms of how they are trained and equipped—and more importantly also in how they fight. The Revolutionary Guards Navy has a large inventory of small fast attack craft, and specializes in [[asymmetric warfare|asymmetric]] [[hit-and-run tactic]]s. It is more akin to a [[guerrilla]] force at sea, and maintains large arsenals of coastal defense and anti-ship cruise missiles and mines.<ref name="The Iran Primer">{{citation|url=http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2013/mar/12/gulf-iii-iran%E2%80%99s-power-sea-lanes|title=Gulf III: Iran's Power in the Sea Lanes|access-date=5 January 2016|publisher=The Iran Primer, [[United States Institute of Peace]]|date=12 March 2013|author=Michael Connell|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111230330/http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2013/mar/12/gulf-iii-iran%E2%80%99s-power-sea-lanes|archive-date=11 January 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> It has also a [[Takavar]] (special force) unit, called [[Sepah Navy Special Force]] (S.N.S.F.).
The navy received 750 new ships in July 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=سرلشکر سلامی: نیروی دریایی سپاه سابقه نبردی موفق در مقابل آمریکا دارد – ایسنا |url=https://www.isna.ir/news/1403050905814/سرلشکر-سلامی-نیروی-دریایی-سپاه-سابقه-نبردی-موفق-در-مقابل-آمریکا/ |access-date=14 August 2024 |website=www.isna.ir|date=30 July 2024 }}</ref>

==== Ground forces ====
{{main|Ground Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps}}

==== Nuclear forces ====
{{main|Nuclear Command Corps}}

==== Intelligence organization ====
{{Broader|Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps}}
Corps Intelligence directorate are accused of meddling in the [[2021 Iranian presidential election]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ir.voanews.com/a/persiannewsiran_iran-election-rohani/6119002.html | title=انتخابات ۱۴۰۰ – برخی نهادهای زیرنظر قوه قضائیه، خبرنگاران را برای انتقاد احتمالی از ابراهیم رئیسی "تهدید کرده‌اند" | trans-title=1400 ([[Solar Hijri calendar]]) elections – Some institutions under the supervision of the judiciary have "threatened" journalists for possible criticism of Ebrahim Raisi. | work=Voice of America | date=19 May 2021 | access-date=18 March 2022 | archive-date=19 May 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210519215422/https://ir.voanews.com/persiannewsiran/iran-election-rohani | url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Auxilaries ====
{{Main|Liwa Fatemiyoun|Liwa Zainebiyoun}}
The IRGC has recruited, funded, and trained two key militias to fight in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen as well as Iranian Balochistan which are led by IRGC commanders and even operate from Iran. These are:

* {{flagicon image|Liwa Fatemiyoun infobox flag.png}} [[Liwa Fatemiyoun]] (a Shia Afghan militia founded in 2013)<ref name="Soleimani">{{cite web |author=Amir Toumaj |date=2 April 2017 |title=Qassem Soleimani reportedly spotted in Syria's Hama province |url=http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/04/qassem-soleimani-reportedly-spotted-in-syrias-hama-province.php |access-date=3 April 2017 |work=[[Long War Journal]]}}</ref><ref name="auto5">{{Cite web |last=Jamal |first=Ahmad Shuja |date=March 2019 |title=The Fatemiyoun Army:Reintegration into Afghan Society |url=https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2019-03/sr_443-the_fatemiyoun_army_reintegration_into_afghan_society-pdf_0.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708132950/https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/2019-03/sr_443-the_fatemiyoun_army_reintegration_into_afghan_society-pdf_0.pdf |archive-date=8 July 2019 |access-date=24 August 2021 |website=United States Institute of Peace}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cairo |first=Waleed Abu al-Khair in |title=IRGC chief directs foreign mercenaries in Syria |url=https://diyaruna.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_di/features/2018/01/25/feature-01 |access-date=23 June 2025 |website=Diyaruna |language=en-GB}}</ref>
* {{flagicon image|Liwa Zainebiyoun infobox flag.png}} [[Liwa Zainebiyoun]] (a Shia Pakistani militia founded in 2015)<ref>{{cite news |date=12 June 2019 |title=التعرف على جثة امر لواء زينبيون الايراني الذي قتل في سوريا بنيران داعش الارهابي قبل عامين |trans-title=Identification of the body of the order of the Iranian Zainabiyoun Brigade, who was killed in Syria by ISIS terrorist fire two years ago |url=https://iraqnewspaper.net/ar/التعرف-جثة-امر-لواء-زينبيون-الايرا/ |work=IraqNewspaper.net |language=ar}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Cairo |first=Waleed Abu al-Khair in |title=IRGC chief directs foreign mercenaries in Syria |url=https://diyaruna.com/en_GB/articles/cnmi_di/features/2018/01/25/feature-01 |access-date=23 June 2025 |website=Diyaruna |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref name="OSINT">{{cite web |title=Meet the Zainebiyoun Brigade: An Iranian Backed Pakistani Shia Militia Fighting in Syria |url=https://theosintblog.com/2016/04/28/meet-the-zainebiyoun-brigade-an-iranian-backed-pakistani-shia-militia-fighting-in-syria/ |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502213753/https://theosintblog.com/2016/04/28/meet-the-zainebiyoun-brigade-an-iranian-backed-pakistani-shia-militia-fighting-in-syria/ |archivedate=2 May 2016 |accessdate=28 April 2016}}</ref>

=== Size ===
{{see also|List of equipment of the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps|List of aircraft of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps}}
[[File:IRGC-AF SRBMs.jpg|thumb|230x230px|[[IRGC Air Force|IRGC Aerospace Force]] missiles at an IRGC exhibition in [[Tehran]], shows [[Shahab-1]], [[Shahab-2]], [[Zolfaghar (missile)|Zolfaghar]] and [[Dezful (missile)|Dezful]]]]
The 2020 edition of The Military Balance, published by [[IISS]], says the IRGC has about 190,000 active personnel and controls the Basij on mobilisation (as much as 40,000 active paramilitary forces).<ref name="IISS2020" /> It estimates the Ground Force is 150,000 strong and the Aerospace Force, which controls Iran's strategic-missile force, has some 15,000 personnel.<ref name="IISS2020" /> The Naval Forces are estimated to size at least 20,000, including 5,000 [[marine (military)|Marines]].<ref name="IISS2020" />

=== Senior commanders ===
{{further|List of senior officers of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps}}
* Major General [[Hossein Salami]]{{Assassinated}} (Commander-in-chief)
* Commodore [[Ali Fadavi]] (Second-in-command)
* Brigadier General [[Mohammad Pakpour]] ([[Ground Forces of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution|Revolutionary Guards' Ground Forces]])
* Brigadier General [[Amir Ali Hajizadeh]]{{Assassinated}} ([[Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution|Revolutionary Guards' Aerospace Force]])
* Commodore [[Alireza Tangsiri]] ([[Navy of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution|Revolutionary Guards' Navy]])
* Brigadier General [[Gholamreza Soleimani]] (Commander of the Mobilized [[Basij]] forces)
* Brigadier General [[Esmail Qaani]]{{Assassinated}} ([[Quds Force]])
* Brigadier General [[Mehdi Rabbani]]{{Assassinated}}
* Brigadier General [[Gholamreza Mehrabi]]{{Assassinated}}

=== Iran–Iraq War ===
{{main|Iran–Iraq War}}

=== Lebanon Civil War ===
{{Further|1982 Lebanon War}}
During the [[Lebanese Civil War]], the IRGC allegedly sent troops to train fighters in response to the [[1982 Lebanon War|1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/inside/govt.html#snsc |title=frontline: terror and Tehran: inside Iran: the structure of power in Iran |publisher=PBS |access-date=25 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120601124057/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/inside/govt.html#snsc |archive-date=1 June 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> In Lebanon, political parties had staunch opinions regarding the IRGC's presence. Some, mainly the Christian militias such as the [[Lebanese Forces]], [[Kataeb Party|Phalanges]], and most of the Christian groups declared war on the IRGC, claiming they violated Lebanese sovereignty, while others, including Muslim militias, were neutral to their presence. Groups such as the [[Progressive Socialist Party|PSP]] and [[Mourabiton]] did not approve of their presence, but to preserve political alliances they decided to remain silent on the matter.

=== 2006 Lebanon War ===
{{Further|2006 Lebanon War}}
During the [[2006 Lebanon War]], several Iranian Revolutionary Guards were reportedly killed by Israeli forces in [[Baalbek]], a town close to the Syrian border.<ref>Zeev Schiff (1 November 2006). [https://www.nytimes.com/cfr/world/20061101faessay_v85n6_schiff.html Israel's War With Iran] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170912235916/http://www.nytimes.com/cfr/world/20061101faessay_v85n6_schiff.html |date=12 September 2017}}. ''New York Times''.</ref> Israeli officials believe that Iranian Revolutionary Guards forces were responsible for training and equipping the [[Hezbollah]] fighters behind the missile attack on the ''[[INS Hanit]]'' which left four Israeli sailors dead and seriously damaged the vessel.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500189.html |title=Israel: Iran Aided Hezbollah Ship Attack |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=15 July 2006 |access-date=17 November 2016 |archive-date=30 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030231051/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500189.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== 2006 plane crash ===
In January 2006, an IRGC [[Dassault Falcon|Falcon]] crashed near [[Urmia|Oroumieh]], about 560 miles northwest of Tehran, near the Turkish border, Iranian media reported. All fifteen passengers died, including twelve senior IRGC commanders. Among the dead was General [[Ahmad Kazemi]], the IRGC ground forces commander, and [[Iran–Iraq War]] veteran.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4594104.stm |title=Plane crash kills Iran commander |work=BBC News |date=9 January 2006 |access-date=25 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330051910/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4594104.stm |archive-date=30 March 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, spokesman for the IRGC, told state radio that both of the plane's engines had failed, its landing gear had jammed, and there was snow and poor visibility at the time.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/international/military-plane-crashes-in-iran-senior-officer-and-12-others.html Military Plane Crashes in Iran; Senior Officer and 12 Others Die] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108135120/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/10/international/military-plane-crashes-in-iran-senior-officer-and-12-others.html |date=8 January 2018}}, ''New York Times'', 10 January 2006.</ref>

=== Possible attacks on Quds Force ===
On 7 July 2008, investigative journalist and author [[Seymour Hersh]] wrote an article in ''[[The New Yorker]]'' stating that the Bush Administration had signed a [[presidential finding]] authorizing the [[CIA]]'s [[Special Activities Division]] to begin cross border paramilitary operations from Iraq and Afghanistan into Iran. 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.<ref>Hersh, Seymour (7 July 2008). [https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh?currentPage=all. "Preparing the Battlefield: The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran"]. ''The New Yorker''.</ref>

=== October 2009 Pishin bombing ===
{{main|2009 Pishin bombing}}
In October 2009, several top commanders of the Revolutionary Guards were killed in a suicide bombing in the [[Pishin, Iran|Pishin]] region of [[Sistan-Baluchistan]], in the south-east of Iran. The Iranian state television said 31 people died in the attack, and more than 25 were injured. Shia and Sunni tribal leaders were also killed. The Sunni [[Baloch people|Baluchi]] insurgent group [[Jundallah (Iran)|Jundullah]] claimed responsibility for the attack. The Iranian government initially blamed the [[United States]] for involvement in the attacks,<ref>[http://english.farsnews.ir/newstext.php?nn=8807261381 "Larijani Blames US for Terrorist Attack on IRGC Commanders"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112174301/http://english.farsnews.ir/newstext.php?nn=8807261381 |date=12 January 2012}}. [[Fars News Agency]]. 18 October 2009.</ref> as well as [[Saudi Arabia]], the [[United Kingdom]] and later [[Pakistan]] for their alleged support of the Jundallah group.<ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/20091018201522994684.html "Iran vows response to suicide blast"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806010449/http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/10/20091018201522994684.html |date=6 August 2011}}. [[Al Jazeera Arabic|Al Jazeera]]. 18 October 2009.</ref><ref>[http://english.farsnews.ir/newstext.php?nn=8807291507 Police Chief Holds Pakistan Accountable for Terror Attack in Iran] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111074624/http://english.farsnews.ir/newstext.php?nn=8807291507 |date=11 January 2012}}. [[Fars News Agency]]. 21 October 2009.</ref> The United States denied involvement,<ref>Derakhsi, Reza (19 October 2009). [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/us-uk-behind-attack-on-guards-claims-iran-1805242.html "US, UK behind attack on Guards, claims Iran"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010024332/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/us-uk-behind-attack-on-guards-claims-iran-1805242.html |date=10 October 2017}}. ''[[The Independent]]''.</ref> but some reports of US assistance to Jundallah during the Bush administration have come from Western sources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pulsemedia.org/2009/10/18/consider-jundallahs-attack-in-a-wider-context/ |title=Consider Jundallah's Attack in a Wider Context |publisher=Pulsemedia.org |date=18 October 2009 |access-date=25 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217145811/http://pulsemedia.org/2009/10/18/consider-jundallahs-attack-in-a-wider-context/ |archive-date=17 December 2011 }}</ref> The attacks appear to have originated in Pakistan and several suspects have been arrested.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010107146_apmliranbombing.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714193458/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2010107146_apmliranbombing.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2012 |title=Iran arrests suspects in attack on military chiefs |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=21 October 2009 |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |first=Ali Akbar |last=Dareini |location=Tehran}}</ref>

=== Syria, 2011–2024 ===
{{Further|Syrian Civil War|Iranian support for Syria in the Syrian Civil War{{!}}Iranian support}}

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.<ref name="IranBoostY4telegraph">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/10654144/Iran-boosts-support-to-Syria.html Iran boosts support to Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180529130602/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/10654144/Iran-boosts-support-to-Syria.html |date=29 May 2018}}, ''Telegraph'', 21 February 2014</ref>

General Qa'ani, Senior officer of Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, said: "If the Islamic Republic was not present in Syria, the massacre of civilians would have been twice as bad. They had physically and non-physically stopped the rebels from killing many more among the Syrian people."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/28/217014.html |title=Iran confirms sending troops to Syria, says bloodshed otherwise would be worse |date=28 May 2012 |publisher=Al Arabiya |access-date=29 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120702204343/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/05/28/217014.html |archive-date=2 July 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Iranian Revolutionary Guard soldiers, along with fellow [[Shia Islam|Shi'ite]] forces from Hezbollah and members of Iran's Basij militia participated in the capture of Qusair from rebel forces on 9 June 2013.<ref>{{cite news |last=Karouny |first=Mariam |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/09/syria-crisis-idINDEE95802T20130609 |title=Syrian forces capture final rebel stronghold in Qusair region |work=Reuters |date=9 June 2013 |access-date=26 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130613183422/http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/06/09/syria-crisis-idINDEE95802T20130609 |archive-date=13 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Jacques |last=Neriah |url=http://jcpa.org/iranian-forces-on-the-golan/ |title=Iranian Forces on the Golan? |work=Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs |date=29 May 2013 |publisher=JCPA |access-date=26 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130813064804/http://jcpa.org/iranian-forces-on-the-golan/ |archive-date=13 August 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, Iran increased its deployment of IRGC in Syria.<ref name="IranBoostY4telegraph" />

By late 2015, 194 IRGC troops had been killed in Syria; almost all of these soldiers were officers, with several even reaching the rank of Brigadier.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/30/mapping-the-deaths-of-iranian-officers-across-syria/|title=Mapping the Deaths of Iranian Officers Across Syria|date=30 October 2015 |access-date=1 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031203248/http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/10/30/mapping-the-deaths-of-iranian-officers-across-syria/|archive-date=31 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iranian-media-is-revealing-that-scores-of-the-countrys-fighters-are-dying-in-syria/2015/11/27/294deb02-8ca0-11e5-934c-a369c80822c2_story.html|title=Iranian media is revealing that scores of the country's fighters are dying in Syria|date=27 November 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=27 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127215115/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/iranian-media-is-revealing-that-scores-of-the-countrys-fighters-are-dying-in-syria/2015/11/27/294deb02-8ca0-11e5-934c-a369c80822c2_story.html|archive-date=27 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, 354 Afghan combatants had died<ref>{{cite web|url=http://en.trend.az/iran/politics/2411810.html|title=Number of Iranian, Afghani fighters killed in Syrian civil war hits 400|date=27 June 2015|work=Trend|access-date=28 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151020192453/http://en.trend.az/iran/politics/2411810.html|archive-date=20 October 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="losses">[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSkrFNBXAAAxnT6.jpg:large "Iran's involvement in Syria, units and losses October 2015"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119093023/https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CSkrFNBXAAAxnT6.jpg%3Alarge |date=19 November 2015}}, PBS/Levantine Group, 29 October 2015, citing Iranian state media.</ref> who were fighting under the command of the IRGC, as part of the IRGC-equipped and trained [[Liwa Fatemiyoun|Fatemiyoun Brigade]], which is part of [[Hezbollah Afghanistan]].<ref name="iransafghan">[http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/irans-afghan-shiite-fighters-in-syria "Iran's Afghan Shiite Fighters in Syria"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424051949/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/irans-afghan-shiite-fighters-in-syria |date=24 April 2015}}, Washington Institute, 3 June 2015</ref> Another 21 Pakistanis also died as part of the [[Liwa Zainebiyoun|Zainabiyoun Brigade]].<ref name="losses" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/shiite-combat-casualties-show-the-depth-of-irans-involvement-in-syria|title=Shiite Combat Casualties Show the Depth of Iran's Involvement in Syria|access-date=3 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804154956/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/shiite-combat-casualties-show-the-depth-of-irans-involvement-in-syria|archive-date=4 August 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Afghan and Pakistani immigrants volunteered to go to Syria in exchange for salaries and citizenship. The Afghans were recruited largely from refugees inside Iran, and usually had combat experience before joining the IRGC; their status as members of the Iranian military is only vaguely acknowledged and sometimes denied, despite the troops being uniformed fighters led by IRGC officers. They were trained and equipped in Iran, paid salaries by the Iranian military, and received state funerals involving uniformed IRGC personnel.<ref name="iransafghan" /> Mid to late October 2015 was particularly bloody for the IRGC, due to them stepping up their involvement in offensives around [[Aleppo]]. During this time, 30 IRGC officers, including "three generals, battalion commanders, captains and lieutenants" and "one pilot" were killed in fighting in Syria, as were several Afghan and Pakistani auxiliaries.<ref>The report came from "officers in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as websites affiliated with it", according to an unsympathetic source ([[MEMRI]])</ref><ref name="memri-10-30-15" />

The fallen included General [[Hossein Hamadani]],<ref>Sepanews.com, 10 October 2015</ref> Farshad Hosounizadeh (IRGC colonel and former commander of the Saberin Special Forces Brigade), Mostafa Sadrzadeh (commander of the Omar Battalion of the Fatmiyoon Brigade), and Hamid Mojtaba Mokhtarband (IRGC commander).<ref name="memri-10-30-15">{{cite news|title=IRGC-Affiliated Website: Some 30 IRGC Officers Killed On Syrian Front In The Past Two Weeks|url=http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8830.htm|access-date=1 November 2015|agency=MEMRI|date=30 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151101005807/http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8830.htm|archive-date=1 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Iraq, 2014–present ===
{{further|Iranian intervention in Iraq (2014–present)|International military intervention against ISIL}}
Two battalions of Revolutionary Guards were reported to be operating in [[Iraq]] trying to combat the [[Northern Iraq offensive (June 2014)|2014 Northern Iraq offensive]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/middle-east/us-under-pressure-to-act-as-iran-helps-iraq-fight-alqaida-30351513.html|title=US under pressure to act as Iran helps Iraq fight al-Qa'ida|work=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=13 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140613074314/http://www.independent.ie/world-news/middle-east/us-under-pressure-to-act-as-iran-helps-iraq-fight-alqaida-30351513.html|archive-date=13 June 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The IRGC is considered to be a principle backer of the [[Popular Mobilization Forces]], a loose coalition of [[Shi'a]] militias allied with the Iraqi government in its fight against the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|Islamic State of Iraq and Syria]] (ISIS). Major General [[Qasem Soleimani]] was an instrumental force in the Iranian ground mission in Iraq against [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant|ISIS]], purportedly planning the [[Second Battle of Tikrit]].<ref name=theg>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/dec/07/qassem-suleimani-middle-east-mastermind-islamic-state|title=Qassem Suleimani: can this man bring about the downfall of Isis?|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180108174903/https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2014/dec/07/qassem-suleimani-middle-east-mastermind-islamic-state|last=Chulov|first=Martin|date=7 December 2014|archive-date=8 January 2018|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

In December 2014, Brigadier General [[Hamid Taqavi]], a veteran of the 1980–1988 [[Iran–Iraq War]], was killed by snipers in [[Samarra]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iran/iranian-general-killed-by-sniper-bullet-in-embattled-iraqi-city-idUSKBN0K60F020141228|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011161150/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iran/iranian-general-killed-by-sniper-bullet-in-embattled-iraqi-city-idUSKBN0K60F020141228|title=Iranian general killed by sniper bullet in embattled Iraqi city|date=28 December 2014|archive-date=11 October 2017|publisher=Reuters}}</ref> In May 2017, Shaaban Nassiri, a senior IRGC commander was killed in combat near Mosul, Iraq.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-iran/senior-iranian-revolutionary-guard-killed-fighting-islamic-state-in-iraq-tasnim-idUSKBN18N0F9|title=Senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard killed fighting Islamic State in Iraq: Tasnim|last=Dehghanpisheh|first=Babak|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011113553/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-iran/senior-iranian-revolutionary-guard-killed-fighting-islamic-state-in-iraq-tasnim-idUSKBN18N0F9|date=27 May 2017|archive-date=11 October 2017|publisher=Reuters}}</ref> In December 2019, the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]] conducted airstrikes on weapons caches and facilities of the IRGC-sponsored militant group [[Kata'ib Hezbollah]]. In retaliation, the group attacked the [[Embassy of the United States, Baghdad|U.S. Embassy in Baghdad]] in the [[Green Zone]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50941693|title=US attacks Iran-backed militia in Iraq and Syria|date=30 December 2019|access-date=12 January 2020|language=en-GB|archive-date=12 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112054212/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50941693|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/5c01f233f4a80281e8b65259352a878c|title=Attack on US Embassy exposes widening US-Iraq divide on Iran|date=2 January 2020|work=Associated Press News|access-date=12 January 2020|archive-date=15 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115084210/https://apnews.com/5c01f233f4a80281e8b65259352a878c|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 3 January 2020, Soleimani was killed in a [[2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike|U.S. drone strike]] at [[Baghdad International Airport]] along with the PMF commander [[Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/5597ff0f046a67805cc233d5933a53ed|title=US kills Iran's most powerful general in Baghdad airstrike|date=2 January 2020|work=Associated Press News|access-date=12 January 2020|archive-date=3 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103023408/https://apnews.com/5597ff0f046a67805cc233d5933a53ed|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 2014 Israeli drone shoot down ===
Iran revolutionary guards said that they had shot down an Israeli drone approaching the [[Natanz nuclear facility]].<ref name="Aljazeera drone">{{cite web |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/iran-israeli-drone-2014824132116380133.html |title=Iran says it shot down Israeli drone |publisher=Al Jazeera English |date=24 August 2014 |access-date=24 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826041241/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/iran-israeli-drone-2014824132116380133.html |archive-date=26 August 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BBC drone">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28920361 |title=Iran 'shoots down Israeli drone' near Natanz nuclear site |agency=BBC News |date=24 August 2014 |access-date=24 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140824173809/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-28920361 |archive-date=24 August 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Reuters drone">{{cite news |last1=Balali |first1=Mehrdad |last2=Moghtader |first2=Michelle |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/08/24/iran-israel-drone-idINKBN0GO0J920140824 |title=Iran says it shoots down Israeli spy drone |work=Reuters |date=24 August 2014 |access-date=24 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826114133/http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/08/24/iran-israel-drone-idINKBN0GO0J920140824 |archive-date=26 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> According to [[Iranian Students News Agency|ISNA]], "The downed aircraft was of the stealth, radar-evasive type ... and was targeted by a ground-to-air missile before it managed to enter the area."<ref name="Aljazeera drone" /><ref name="Reuters drone" /> The statement by revolutionary guards did not mention how they recognized it as an Israeli drone. Israel offered no comment.<ref name="BBC drone" />

=== Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 ===
Iranian authorities initially denied responsibility for the [[Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752]] incident. However, the IRGC later admitted that the plane had been shot down by mistake.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51140806 |title=Iran plane crash: Khamenei defends armed forces in rare address |agency=BBC News |date=17 January 2020 |language=en |access-date=30 May 2020 |archive-date=8 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608181119/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-51140806 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]] took "full responsibility" for unintentionally shooting down the airplane with a surface-to-air missile on 8 January 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-11/under-pressure-iran-admits-it-shot-down-jetliner-by-mistake|title=Suleimani's death stifled rebellion in Iran. But a downed jetliner reignites dissent|date=11 January 2020|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en|access-date=12 January 2020|archive-date=12 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200112000046/https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-01-11/under-pressure-iran-admits-it-shot-down-jetliner-by-mistake|url-status=live}}</ref> President [[Hassan Rouhani]] stated that the plane was approaching an IRGC base when it was shot down: according to a senior Revolutionary Guards commander, the plane was mistaken for a cruise missile.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/01/11/iran-admits-to-unintentionally-shooting-down-ukrainian-airliner-blames-human-error.html|title=Iran admits to 'unintentionally' shooting down Ukrainian airliner, blames 'human error'|date=13 January 2020|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en|access-date=14 January 2020|archive-date=14 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114235100/https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2020/01/11/iran-admits-to-unintentionally-shooting-down-ukrainian-airliner-blames-human-error.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
On 17 January 2020, the IRGC were protected by [[Ali Khamenei]] in the Friday sermon. He said that the downing was a "bitter" tragedy and additionally declared that "Iran's enemies" used the crash and the military's admission to "weaken" the IRGC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Iran's Khamenei defends Revolutionary Guard in rare Friday sermon |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/ayatollah-khamenei-defends-revolutionary-guard-friday-sermon-200117105420440.html |agency=Al Jazeera |access-date=18 January 2020 |archive-date=17 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200117205548/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/ayatollah-khamenei-defends-revolutionary-guard-friday-sermon-200117105420440.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Special Operation inside Pakistan ===
On 3 February 2021, IRGC announced that it had conducted an intelligence-based operation inside Pakistani territory to rescue two of its border guards who were taken as hostages by [[Jaish ul-Adl]] organization two and a half years ago.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/iran-frees-2-soldiers-kidnapped-in-pakistan/2132654|title=Iran frees 2 soldiers kidnapped in Pakistan|date=3 February 2021|publisher=Anadolu Agency|access-date=4 February 2021|archive-date=4 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204154712/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/iran-frees-2-soldiers-kidnapped-in-pakistan/2132654|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Involvement in the Russo-Ukrainian war ===
On 21 October 2022, a White House press release stated that [[Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces|Iranian troops]] were in Crimea assisting Russia in launching [[Russian strikes against Ukrainian infrastructure (2022–present)|drone attacks]] against civilians and civilian infrastructure.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Madhani |first1=Aamer |last2=Miller |first2=Zeke |date=21 October 2022 |title=US: Iranian troops in Crimea backing Russian drone strikes |url=https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-8b085070758120c31d421f68a65e4b14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503164518/https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-8b085070758120c31d421f68a65e4b14 |archive-date=3 May 2023 |access-date=22 October 2022 |work=Associated Press}}</ref> On 24 November, Ukrainian officials said the military had killed ten Iranians and would target any further Iranian military presence in Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Hird |first1=Karolina |last2=Mappes |first2=Grace |last3=Bailey |first3=Riley |last4=Howard |first4=Angela |last5=Kagan |first5=Frederick W. |date=25 November 2022 |title=Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, November 25 |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-november-25 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231214005539/https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-november-25 |archive-date=14 December 2023 |access-date=26 November 2022 |website=Institute for the Study of War |language=en}}</ref> The Institute for the Study of War assessed that these are likely Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC-affiliated personnel, as this formation is the primary operator of Iranian drones.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Hird |first1=Karolina |last2=Bailey |first2=Riley |last3=Mappes |first3=Grace |last4=Barros |first4=George |last5=Kagan |first5=Frederick W. |date=12 October 2022 |title=Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, October 12 |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114103621/https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-12 |archive-date=14 January 2024 |access-date=26 November 2022 |website=Institute for the Study of War |language=en}}</ref>

=== April 2024 Iranian strikes against Israel ===
On 13 April 2024, the IRGC, in collaboration with the [[Islamic Resistance in Iraq]], [[Hezbollah]], and the [[Ansar Allah|Ansar Allah (Houthis)]], [[April 2024 Iranian strikes against Israel|launched retaliatory attacks]] against [[Israel]] and the [[Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights|Israeli-occupied]] [[Golan Heights]] with [[loitering munition]]s, [[cruise missile]]s, and [[ballistic missile]]s.<ref name="Washington Post-2024a">{{Cite news |date=14 April 2024 |title=Mapping the wide-scale Iranian drone and missile attacks |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/14/mapping-wide-scale-iranian-drone-missile-attacks/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414093648/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/14/mapping-wide-scale-iranian-drone-missile-attacks/ |archive-date=14 April 2024 |access-date=14 April 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en}}</ref> It was retaliation for the [[Israeli bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus]] on 1 April,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Tanyos |first1=Faris |last2=Tabachnick |first2=Cara |date=13 April 2024 |title=Iran launches drones toward Israel in retaliatory attack after consulate strike in Syria |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-launches-drone-attack-toward-israel-idf-says/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240413205725/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-launches-drone-attack-toward-israel-idf-says/ |archive-date=13 April 2024 |access-date=13 April 2024 |work=CBS News |language=en-US}}</ref> which killed two Iranian generals.<ref>{{cite news |date=1 April 2024 |title=Israeli strike on Iran's consulate in Syria killed 2 generals and 5 other officers, Iran says |url=https://apnews.com/article/israel-syria-airstrike-iranian-embassy-edca34c52d38c8bc57281e4ebf33b240 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419075609/https://apnews.com/article/israel-syria-airstrike-iranian-embassy-edca34c52d38c8bc57281e4ebf33b240 |archive-date=19 April 2024 |access-date=19 April 2024 |work=AP News |language=en}}</ref> The strike was seen as a [[Spillover of the Gaza war|spillover]] of the [[Gaza war]] and marked Iran's first direct attack on Israel since the start of [[Iran–Israel proxy conflict|their proxy conflict]].<ref>{{Cite news |last1=McKernan |first1=Bethan |last2=Graham-Harrison |first2=Emma |last3=Borger |first3=Julian |last4=Beaumont |first4=Peter |date=14 April 2024 |title=Iran launches hundreds of drones and cruise missiles at Israel in unprecedented attack |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/13/israel-under-fire-as-iran-launches-extensive-drone-strikes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414001954/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/13/israel-under-fire-as-iran-launches-extensive-drone-strikes |archive-date=14 April 2024 |access-date=14 April 2024 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> The attack was the largest attempted [[Drone warfare|drone strike]] in history,<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 April 2024 |title=The largest drone attack in history |url=http://iranpress.com/aliaspage/277652 |website=iranpress.com}}</ref><ref name="aljazeera_041424">{{Cite web |last=Motamedi |first=Maziar |title='True Promise': Why and how did Iran launch a historic attack on Israel? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/14/true-promise-why-and-how-did-iran-launch-a-historic-attack-on-israel |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414145020/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/14/true-promise-why-and-how-did-iran-launch-a-historic-attack-on-israel |archive-date=14 April 2024 |access-date=14 April 2024 |website=Al Jazeera}}</ref> intended to overwhelm anti-aircraft defenses. It was the first time since [[1991 Iraqi missile attacks against Israel|Iraq's 1991 missile strikes]] that Israel was directly attacked by a state force.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Johny |first=Stanly |date=14 April 2024 |title=Analysis: By attacking Israel, Iran turns shadow war into direct conflict |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/analysis-three-takeaways-from-irans-attack-on-israel/article68064678.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414203401/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/analysis-three-takeaways-from-irans-attack-on-israel/article68064678.ece |archive-date=14 April 2024 |access-date=14 April 2024 |newspaper=The Hindu}}</ref>

=== June 2025 Iran-Israel war ===
On 13 June Israel launched a "preemptive" strike targeting high-ranking members of the Islamic revolution and Irans nuclear infrastructure and key nuclear scientists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Israel launches strike against Iran |website=[[Politico]] |date=12 June 2025 |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/12/israel-launches-strike-against-iran-00404354}}</ref> The opening attack killed 30 IRGC generals and 9 nuclear scientists. The strike, referred to as Operation Rising Lion launched the 12 day [[Iran–Israel war|Iran-Israel war]]. An Israeli and US airstrikes damaged the nuclear facilities at [[Natanz Nuclear Facility|Natanz]], [[Isfahan Nuclear Technology/Research Center|Isfahan]], and [[Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant|Fordow]]. Notable IRGC generals killed during the 12 day war include:<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Regalado |first1=Francesca |last2=Ward |first2=Euan |last3=Fassihi |first3=Farnaz |last4=Granados |first4=Samuel |last5=Chutel |first5=Lynsey |date=2025-06-13 |title=These Are Iranian Generals and Scientists Killed by Israel |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/world/middleeast/iran-military-generals-killed-israel.html |access-date=2025-07-06 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

* Hossein Salami, commander in chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps,
* Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the armed forces and the second-highest commander after Ayatollah Khamenei.

* Gholamali Rashid, deputy commander in chief of the Armed Forces.
* Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the airspace unit of the Revolutionary Guards.
* Gholamreza Mehrabi, deputy intelligence chief of the Armed Forces.
* Mehdi Rabbani, deputy commander of operations for the Armed Forces.

* Davood Sheikhian, the commander of air defense.
* Khosro Hassani, the deputy intelligence chief of the aerospace unit.
* Mohammad Kazemi, the head of the intelligence
* Hassan Mohaqiq, the deputy to General Kazemi.

== Influence ==
=== Political ===
{{Conservatism in Iran|Organisations}}
{{See also|Sanctions against Iran|Criticism of the Iran nuclear deal|Political repression in the Islamic Republic of Iran}}

As an elite group, members of Pasdaran have an oversized influence in Iran's political world. [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] (President 2005–2013) joined the IRGC in 1985, serving first in military operation in Iraqi Kurdistan before leaving the front line to take charge of logistics. A majority of his first cabinet consisted of IRGC veterans.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iranfocus.com/en/iran-general-/18-of-iran-s-21-new-ministers-hail-from-revolutionary-guards-secret-police-03315.html |title=18 of Iran's 21 new ministers hail from Revolutionary Guards, secret police |date=14 August 2005 |publisher=Iran Focus |access-date=22 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222045228/http://www.iranfocus.com/en/iran-general-/18-of-iran-s-21-new-ministers-hail-from-revolutionary-guards-secret-police-03315.html |archive-date=22 February 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Nearly one third of the members elected to Iran's [[Islamic Consultative Assembly|Majlis]] in 2004 are also "''Pásdárán''".<ref>Roy, Olivier, ''The Politics of Chaos in the Middle East'', Columbia University Press, 2008, p.133, 135</ref> Others have been appointed as ambassadors, mayors, provincial governors and senior bureaucrats.<ref name=ReutersQA /> However, IRGC veteran status does not imply a single viewpoint.<ref name="RAND821" />

Strengthening the power of the IRGC was their actions against the [[Iranian Green Movement|Green Movement]], where thousands of Iranians protested election irregularities in the 2009 victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over "a well-liked" reformer [[Mir-Hossein Mousavi]]. As "the demonstrations gained strength, the security forces swept in, arresting, beating, and killing protesters". The IRGC was thought to be crucial in crushing the movement which "marked a turning point" for the Islamic Republic.<ref name="Filkins-NYer-24-5-2020" />

In a video leaked to the internet, the leader of the Pasdaran at the time, (General [[Mohammad Ali Jafari]]), opposed the protest as challenging 'the tenets of the revolution', but warned that it 'was a blow that weakened the fundamental pillars of the regime,' and demonstrated that Iran's rulers "could no longer count on popular support", 'Anyone who refuses to understand these new conditions will not be successful'.<ref name="Filkins-NYer-24-5-2020" />

Ayatollah Khomeini urged that the country's military forces should remain unpoliticized. However, the Constitution, in Article 150, defines the IRGC as the "guardian of the Revolution and of its achievements" which is at least partly a political mission. His original views have therefore been the subject of debate. Supporters of the Basiji have argued for politicization, while reformists, moderates and [[Hassan Khomeini]] opposed it. President Rafsanjani forced military professionalization and ideological deradicalization on the IRGC to curb its political role, but the Pasdaran became natural allies of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei when reformists threatened him.<ref name="RAND821" /> The IRGC grew stronger under President Ahmedinejad, and assumed formal command of the [[Basiji]] militia in early 2009.<ref name="Daragahi">Daragahi, Borzou. (6 July 2009). [https://latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran7-2009jul07,0,1530538.story "Iran's Revolutionary Guard acknowledges taking a bigger role in nation's security"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090710043458/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran7-2009jul07,0,1530538.story |date=10 July 2009}}. ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved 9 July 2009.</ref>

Although never explicitly endorsing or affiliating themselves with any political parties, the [[Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran]] (or Abadgaran), is widely viewed as a political front for the Revolutionary Guards. Many former members (including Ahmadinejad) have joined this party in recent years and the Revolutionary Guards have reportedly given them financial support.

=== Economic activity ===
{{see also|Economy of Iran|Labour and tax laws in Iran#Smuggling|Economic activities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps|l2=Smuggling in Iran}}

IRGC first expanded into commercial activity through informal social networking of veterans and former officials. IRGC officials confiscated assets of many refugees who had fled Iran after the fall of [[Abolhassan Banisadr]]'s government. It is now a vast [[Economic activities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps|conglomerate]], controlling Iran's missile batteries and nuclear program but also a multibillion-dollar business empire reaching almost all economic sectors.<ref name=NYT20090721>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/world/middleeast/21guards.html?hpw=&pagewanted=print |title=Hard-Line Force Extends Grip Over a Splintered Iran |date=21 July 2009 |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Michael |last=Slackman |access-date=21 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160719054939/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/world/middleeast/21guards.html?hpw=&pagewanted=print |archive-date=19 July 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Estimates of the fraction of Iran's economy that it controls through a series of subsidiaries and trusts<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7064353.stm |title=Profile: Iran's Revolutionary Guards |date=26 October 2007 |agency=BBC News |access-date=27 December 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227172931/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7064353.stm| archive-date=27 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> vary from ten percent<ref name=Ganji>{{cite journal|last=Ganji|first=Akbar|title=Revolutionary Pragmatists|journal=Foreign Affairs|date=10 November 2013|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/140253/akbar-ganji/revolutionary-pragmatists?cid=soc-twitter-in-snapshots-revolutionary_pragmatists-111113|quote=The Revolutionary Guards are no longer simply a military institution. They are among the country's most important economic actors, controlling an estimated ten percent of the economy, directly and through various subsidiaries.|access-date=12 November 2013|archive-date=5 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200305172744/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/middle-east/2013-11-10/revolutionary-pragmatists?cid=soc-twitter-in-snapshots-revolutionary_pragmatists-111113|url-status=live}}</ref> to over 50.<ref name="Filkins-iran-5-18-2020">{{cite journal |last1=Filkins |first1=Dexter |title=TheTwilight of the Iranian Revolution |journal=New Yorker |date=18 May 2020 |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/25/the-twilight-of-the-iranian-revolution |access-date=7 June 2020 |archive-date=16 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316172411/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/25/the-twilight-of-the-iranian-revolution |url-status=live }}</ref>

The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' estimates that IRGC has ties to over one hundred companies, with its annual revenue exceeding $12 billion in business and construction.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-aug-26-fg-guards26-story.html |title=Iran's $12-billion enforcers |date=26 August 2007 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |first=Kim |last=Murphy |access-date=27 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011090150/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/aug/26/world/fg-guards26 |archive-date=11 October 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> IRGC has been awarded billions of dollars in contracts in the [[Ministry of Petroleum of Iran|oil, gas and petrochemical industries]], as well as major infrastructure projects.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1659039,00.html |title=Iran's Rich Revolutionary Guard |date=5 September 2007 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |first=Azadeh |last=Moaveni |access-date=27 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201151015/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0%2C8599%2C1659039%2C00.html |archive-date=1 December 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The following commercial entities have been named by the United States as owned or controlled by the IRGC and its leaders.<ref name=USDT20071025>{{cite web|url=http://www.treasury.gov/press/releases/hp644.htm |title=Fact Sheet: Designation of Iranian Entities and Individuals for Proliferation Activities and Support for Terrorism |date=25 October 2007 |publisher=United States Department of the Treasury |access-date=24 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090723111758/http://www.treasury.gov/press/releases/hp644.htm |archive-date=23 July 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Khatam al-Anbia]] Construction Headquarters, the IRGC's major engineering arm & one of Iran's largest contractors employing about 25,000 engineers and staff on military (70%) and non-military (30%) projects<ref name="RAND821">{{cite book |author=Wehrey |title=The Rise of the Pasdaran: Assessing the Domestic Roles of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG821/ |location=Santa Monica, CA |publisher=[[National Defense Research Institute]], [[RAND Corporation]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-8330-4620-8 |display-authors=etal |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100615100050/http://rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG821/ |archive-date=15 June 2010 |url-status=live }} [https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG821.pdf in full] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002035700/http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG821.pdf |date=2 October 2012}} [https://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG821.sum.pdf brief summary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002131223/http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2008/RAND_MG821.sum.pdf |date=2 October 2012}}(PDF)</ref> worth over $7 billion in 2006.<ref name=USDT20071025 />
* [[Oriental Oil Kish]] (oil and gas industry)<ref name="Congress">{{cite web |url=https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/107234.pdf |title=CRS Report for Congress – Iran's Economy – Order Code RL34525 |first=Shayerah |last=Ilias |date=12 June 2008 |publisher=Congressional Research Service, U.S. State Department |access-date=25 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627081501/https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/107234.pdf |archive-date=27 June 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Ghorb Nooh]]<ref name="Congress" />
* Sahel Consultant Engineering<ref name="Congress" />
* [[Ghorb Karbala]]<ref name="Congress" />
* Sepasad Engineering Co. (excavation and tunnel construction)<ref name="Congress" />
* [[Omran Sahel]]<ref name="Congress" />
* [[Hara Company]] (excavation and tunnel construction)<ref name="Congress" />
* Gharargahe Sazandegi Ghaem<ref name="Congress" />
* [[Imensazan Consultant Engineers Institute]] (subsidiary of Khatam al-Anbia)
* [[Fater Engineering Institute]] (subsidiary of Khatam al-Anbia)

In September 2009, the [[Government of Iran]] sold 51% of the shares of the [[Telecommunication Company of Iran]] to the [[Mobin Trust Consortium]] (Etemad-e-Mobin), a group affiliated with the Guards, for the sum of $7.8 billion. This was the largest transaction on the [[Tehran Stock Exchange]] in history.<ref>[http://www.newsday.com/business/iran-s-rev-guard-buys-stake-in-iran-telecom-1.1480300 "Iran's Rev. Guard buys stake in Iran telecom"]. AP: Newsday.com. 27 September 2009.</ref><ref>Slackman, Michael (8 October 2009). [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/world/middleeast/09iran.html?_r=1&em "Elite Guard in Iran Tightens Grip With Media Move"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161110120745/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/world/middleeast/09iran.html?_r=1&em |date=10 November 2016}}. ''New York Times.''</ref> IRGC also owns 45% participation in automotive [[Bahman Group]] and has a majority stake in Iran's naval giant [[SADRA]] through [[Khatam al-Anbia]].<ref name="RAND821"/><ref>{{cite news |title=1388: Year of Militarization of Iran's Economy |first=Ardalan |last=Sayami |newspaper=Payvand News |date=23 March 2010 |url=http://www.payvand.com/news/10/mar/1213.html |access-date=16 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100326144753/http://www.payvand.com/news/10/mar/1213.html |archive-date=26 March 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The IRGC also exerts influence over ''[[bonyad]]s'', wealthy, non-governmental ostensibly charitable foundations controlled by key clerics. The pattern of revolutionary foundations mimics the style of informal and extralegal economic networks from the time of the Shah. Their development started in the early 1990s, gathered pace over the next decade, and accelerated even more with many lucrative [[no-bid contract]]s from the Ahmadinejad presidency.<ref name="Congress" /> The IRGC exerts informal, but real, influence over many such organizations including:
* [[Mostazafan Foundation]] (Foundation of the Oppressed or The Mostazafan Foundation)
* [[Bonyad Shahid va Omur-e Janbazan]] (Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs)<ref name="RAND821" />

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. According to a "former senior Middle Eastern intelligence officer", the Guard and their families "have their own schools, their own markets, their own neighborhoods, their own resorts. The neighborhoods look like a carbon copy of Beverly Hills."<ref name="Filkins-iran-5-18-2020" />

Former Bank Ansar and Bank Mehr Iranian were run by corps [[IRGC Cooperation Bonyad]] until merger with state Bank Sepah.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-sanctions-target-iranian-linked-front-company-network-/29843704.html|title=U.S. Sanctions Target Iranian-Linked 'Front Company Network'|newspaper=Radiofreeeurope/Radioliberty|access-date=23 April 2022|archive-date=23 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423134544/https://www.rferl.org/a/u-s-sanctions-target-iranian-linked-front-company-network-/29843704.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2023, Israel seized millions of dollars in cryptocurrency belonging to Hezbollah and the [[Quds force]] of the IRGC.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://m.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-747924|title=Israel seizes millions in Iran Quds Force, Hezbollah crypto assets|newspaper=Jerusalem Post|access-date=28 June 2023|archive-date=11 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231011171414/https://m.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-747924|url-status=live}}</ref>

Between 2023 and 2025, Iran significantly increased its military budget, with a substantial portion directed to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). In 2023, Iran's military expenditure was estimated at $10.3 billion, with the IRGC receiving approximately 37% of this budget, amounting to around $3.8 billion.  By 2024, the total military budget rose to approximately $16.7 billion, with $10.9 billion officially allocated to military entities and an additional $5.9 billion channeled through oil revenues and the National Development Fund.  In 2025, the Iranian government proposed a 200% increase in the military budget, allocating over half of its oil and gas export revenues—estimated at €12 billion—to the armed forces, including the IRGC.  This surge in funding underscores Iran's focus on enhancing its military capabilities amid escalating regional tensions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hakamian |first=Mahmoud |date=2024-11-11 |title=Iran's military-security budget to increase by 200 percent {{!}} |url=https://english.mojahedin.org/article/irans-military-security-budget-to-increase-by-200-percent/?utm_ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-09-19 |title=Iran's Military Budget: A Quarter of the Nation's Finances Amid Economic Challenges |url=https://iranopendata.org/en/article/irans-military-budget-quarter-of-nations-finances-amid-economic-challenges/?utm_ |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=Iran Open Data Center |language=en}}</ref>

=== Environmental ===
{{Main|Tehran water shortage}}
Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran’s pursuit of food self-sufficiency has driven a state-led campaign of agricultural expansion that has severely strained the country’s limited water resources. This push, heavily reliant on water-intensive crops such as wheat, rice, and sugar beet, has often ignored ecological constraints. With agriculture accounting for approximately 92% of water usage and among the lowest levels of water productivity in the region, Iran’s water crisis is deeply entwined with governance failures, ideological policies, and entrenched institutional interests.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Calabrese |first=Dr John |date=2024-05-23 |title=Iran: Running Out of Time to Avoid Running Out of Water? |url=https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2024/05/23/iran-running-out-of-time-to-avoid-running-out-of-water/ |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=Modern Diplomacy |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who holds a deep entanglement in Iran’s economic, infrastructural, and environmental governance, has had a significant effect on Iran's environmental standing. Through its engineering arm, [[Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters]] (KAA), the IRGC has been a principal actor in Iran’s dam-building spree, water transfer schemes, and large-scale infrastructure projects. Peripheral provinces such as Khuzestan, which are home to marginalized ethnic communities, have suffered disproportionately from these ecological disruptions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Qaed |first=Anas Al |date=2023-05-16 |title=The Economic Empire of the Revolutionary Guards in Iran |url=https://gulfif.org/the-economic-empire-of-the-revolutionary-guards-in-iran/ |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=Gulf International Forum |language=en}}</ref>

The IRGC and its affiliated economic networks, sometimes referred to as the “water mafia,” have profited immensely from this system. While the official rhetoric remains fixated on sovereignty and resistance economics, the practical outcome has been a politicized water economy marked by mismanagement and corruption. The Majlis Research Center itself acknowledged in 2023 that the current model of water governance is incompatible with the country’s hydrological realities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=esennett |date=2025-05-15 |title=Feeding the 'water mafia': Sanctions relief and Iran's water crisis |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/feeding-the-water-mafia-sanctions-relief-and-irans-water-crisis/ |access-date=2025-07-20 |website=Atlantic Council |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Analysis ===
[[Mehdi Khalaji]] of the [[Washington Institute for Near East Policy]] argues that the IRGC is "the spine of the current political structure and a major player in the Iranian economy."<ref name=Khalaji12>{{cite web|last=Khalaji|first=Mehdi|title=Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, Inc.|url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/irans-revolutionary-guards-corps-inc|access-date=11 October 2012|publisher=The Washington Institute for Near East Policy|date=17 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926115859/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/irans-revolutionary-guards-corps-inc|archive-date=26 September 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The once theocratic state has evolved into a [[garrison state]], like [[Burma]], whereby the military dominates social, cultural, political, and economic life, protecting the government from internal rather than external opponents.<ref name=Khalaji12 />

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.<ref name="Bruno">{{cite news|last=Bruno|first=Greg and Jayshree Bajoria|title=Iran's Revolutionary Guards|url=http://www.cfr.org/iran/irans-revolutionary-guards/p14324|access-date=11 October 2012|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|date=12 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112092148/http://www.cfr.org/iran/irans-revolutionary-guards/p14324|archive-date=12 November 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> "The Guards' involvement in politics has grown to unprecedented levels since 2004, when IRGC won at least 16 percent of the 290 seats" in the [[Islamic Consultative Assembly of Iran]].<ref name="Bruno" /> During the elections of March 2008, IRGC veterans won 182 out of 290 seats, helping [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] consolidate power.{{sfn|Alfoneh|2008|p=3}}

Half of Ahmadinejad's cabinet was composed of former IRGC officers while several others were appointed to provincial governorships.{{sfn|Alfoneh|2008|p=3}}

Ali Alfoneh of the [[American Enterprise Institute]] contends that "While the presence of former IRGC officers in the cabinet is not a new phenomenon, their numbers under Ahmadinejad—they occupy nine of the twenty-one ministry portfolios—are unprecedented."{{sfn|Alfoneh|2008|p=6}} 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.{{sfn|Alfoneh|2008|p=7}}

The IRGC chief, General [[Mohammad Ali Jafari]], announced that the Guards' would go through internal restructuring in order to counter "internal threats to the Islamic Republic."{{sfn|Alfoneh|2008|p=3}} [[Bruce Riedel]], a Senior Fellow at the [[Brookings Institution]] and former [[CIA]] analyst, argues the Guards was created to protect the government against a possible coup.<ref name="Bruno" />

Since the disputed 2009 presidential elections, debate over how powerful the IRGC is has reemerged. Danielle Pletka and Ali Alfoneh see the irreversible militarization of Iran's government.<ref name="Bruno" /> Abbas Milani, director of Iranian Studies at [[Stanford University]], believes the Guards' power actually exceeds that of Supreme Leader [[Ayatollah Khamenei]].<ref name="Bruno" /> [[Frederic Wehrey]], adjunct Senior Fellow at the [[RAND Corporation]] believes the Revolutionary Guards is not a cohesive unit of similar-minded conservatives but rather a factionalized institution that is hardly bent on overthrowing their masters.<ref name="Bruno"/>

=== U.S. Department of the Treasury terrorist aid claims ===
The U.S. Department of the Treasury claims the Corp has supported several organizations the U.S. deems to be terrorist, including [[Hezbollah]], [[Hamas]], [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] (PIJ), the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command]] (PFLP-GC), and the [[Taliban]].<ref name="tg810">{{cite web|url=https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg810.aspx|title=Fact Sheet: U.S. Treasury Department Targets Iran's Support for Terrorism Treasury Announces New Sanctions Against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force Leadership|date=3 August 2010|publisher=U.S. Department of the Treasury|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509060056/https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg810.aspx|archive-date=9 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> 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. Hushang Alladad, a financial officer for the IRGC, was cited as personally administering financial support to terrorist groups including Hizballah, Hamas, and PIJ.<ref name="tg810" />

Both General Hossein Musavi and Colonel Hasan Mortevazi were claimed to have provided financial and material support to the Taliban. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the IRGC commander in Lebanon, was claimed to have played a crucial role in Iran's aid to Hizballah. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Zahedi served as a liaison to Hizballah and Syrian intelligence services as well as taking part in weapon deals involving Hizballah.<ref name="tg810" />

The U.S. Treasury report goes on to detail the IRGC's methods of support for terrorist groups: "The Government of Iran also uses the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and IRGC-QF to implement its foreign policy goals, including, but not limited to, seemingly legitimate activities that provide cover for intelligence operations and support to terrorist and insurgent groups. These activities include economic investment, reconstruction, and other types of aid to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon, implemented by companies and institutions that act for or on behalf of, or are owned or controlled by the IRGC and the Iranian government."<ref name="tg810" />

=== Corporations in media ===
* [[Owj Arts and Media Organization]], [[Tasnim news agency]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://iranwire.com/en/features/66671|title=The Revolutionary Guards' Media Cartels|access-date=24 March 2022|archive-date=24 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324073405/https://iranwire.com/en/features/66671|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.radiofarda.com/a/warrior-interrogator-artist-the-man-who-leads-irgc-s-cultural-onslaught/30778529.html|title=Warrior, Interrogator, Artist; The Man Who Leads IRGC's Cultural Onslaught|website=RFE/RL|date=11 August 2020|access-date=24 March 2022|archive-date=9 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509200114/https://en.radiofarda.com/a/warrior-interrogator-artist-the-man-who-leads-irgc-s-cultural-onslaught/30778529.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Similar organizations ===
Since November 2023, [[Afghan Armed Forces|the military of Islamic Emirate]] have created [[Supreme Leader of Afghanistan|Supreme leader]]-led task forces in Afghanistan similar to the Revolutionary Guard.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://8am.media/fa/nabil-the-task-of-forming-a-force-similar-to-the-iranian-revolutionary-guard-corps-in-kandahar-is-complete/ | title=نبیل: کار تشکیل نیروی مشابه به سپاه پاسداران ایران در قندهار تکمیل است | language=fa | date=30 October 2023 | access-date=3 November 2023 | archive-date=3 November 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231103113231/https://8am.media/fa/nabil-the-task-of-forming-a-force-similar-to-the-iranian-revolutionary-guard-corps-in-kandahar-is-complete/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

== Controversy ==
{{main|Controversies surrounding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps|2007 Gasoline Rationing Plan in Iran#Fuel smuggling|l2=Fuel smuggling in Iran}}
From its origin as an ideologically driven militia, the IRGC has taken an ever more assertive role in virtually every aspect of Iranian society. Its part in suppressing dissent has led many analysts to describe the events surrounding the 12 June 2009 presidential election as a military coup, and the IRGC as an authoritarian military security government for which its [[Shiite]] clerical system is no more than a facade.<ref name=NYT20090721 />

Since its establishment, IRGC has been involved in many economic and military activities among which some raised controversies. The organization has been accused of smuggling (including importing illegal alcoholic beverages, cigarettes and satellite dishes, into Iran via jetties not supervised by the Government<ref name="RAND821" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14327633 |title=Iran's Revolutionary Guards: Showing who's boss |publisher=Economist.com |date=27 August 2009 |access-date=25 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090902052143/http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14327633 |archive-date=2 September 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15065598 |title=Iran's resilient opposition: The regime's ramparts are shaky |publisher=Economist.com |date=10 December 2009 |access-date=25 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100204044813/http://www.economist.com/world/middleeast-africa/displayStory.cfm?story_id=15065598 |archive-date=4 February 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Erlich">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/iranagendarealst00rees |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/iranagendarealst00rees/page/80 80] |quote=iran revolutionary guard liquor. |title=The Iran Agenda |author1=Erlich, Reese |author2=Scheer, Robert |publisher=PoliPointPress |year=2007 |access-date=25 December 2011 |isbn=9780977825356}}</ref>), training and supplying [[Hezbollah]]<ref>Baer, p. 250.</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://jcpa.org/attack-golan-irans-along-israels-borders|title=The Attack in the Golan Exposes Iran's Growing Presence along Israel's Borders|publisher=Brig.-Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA)|date=19 January 2015|access-date=29 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150121173305/http://jcpa.org/attack-golan-irans-along-israels-borders/|archive-date=21 January 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Hamas]]<ref>Mazzetti, Mark (1 January 2009). [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/world/middleeast/01rockets.html "Striking Deep Into Israel, Hamas Employs an Upgraded Rocket Arsenal] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417143550/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/world/middleeast/01rockets.html |date=17 April 2009}}". ''New York Times''.</ref> fighters, and of being involved in the [[Iraq War]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/29/iran.navy/index.html |title=Iran's Revolutionary Guards patrol Persian Gulf, U.S. says |publisher=CNN |date=29 November 2007 |access-date=25 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106020940/http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/29/iran.navy/index.html |archive-date=6 November 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2009, evidence uncovered during an investigation by the Guardian newspaper and Guardian Films linked the IRGC to the kidnappings of 5 Britons from a government ministry building in Baghdad in 2007. Three of the hostages, Jason Creswell, Jason Swindlehurst and Alec Maclachlan, were killed. Alan Mcmenemy's body was never found but Peter Moore was released on 30 December 2009. The investigation uncovered evidence that Moore, 37, a computer expert from [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]] was targeted because he was installing a system for the Iraqi Government that would show how a vast amount of international aid was diverted to Iran's militia groups in Iraq.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/30/iran-britons-baghdad-kidnapping |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Revealed: hand of Iran behind Britons' Baghdad kidnapping |first=Guy |last=Grandjean |date=30 December 2009 |access-date=25 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418164441/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/30/iran-britons-baghdad-kidnapping |archive-date= 18 April 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

According to [[Geneive Abdo]], IRGC members were appointed "as ambassadors, mayors, cabinet ministers, and high-ranking officials at state-run economic institutions" during the administration of president Ahmadinejad.<ref name="abdo" /> Appointments in 2009 by Supreme Leader [[Ali Khamenei]] have given "hard-liners" in the guard "unprecedented power" and included "some of the most feared and brutal men in Iran."<ref name="abdo" />

In May 2019, the United States accused the IRGC of being "directly responsible" for an [[May 2019 Gulf of Oman incident|attack on commercial ships in the Gulf of Oman]]. [[Michael M. Gilday]], United States [[director of the Joint Staff]], described US intelligence attributing that the IRGC used [[limpet mines]] to attack four [[oil tankers]] anchored in the [[Gulf of Oman]] for [[bunkering]] through the [[Port of Fujairah]].<ref name=GL>{{cite news|url=https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/iran-directly-behind-tanker-attacks-off-uae-coast-us-says-1.64179304|title=Iran directly behind tanker attacks off UAE coast, US says|publisher=Gulf news|date=25 May 2019|access-date=3 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190604002028/https://gulfnews.com/world/mena/iran-directly-behind-tanker-attacks-off-uae-coast-us-says-1.64179304|archive-date=4 June 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2020, during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the IRGC unveiled the [[Mostaan 110]], an experimental medical device that the IRGC claimed could detect instances of [[COVID-19]] using electromagnetic radiation. The IRGC's claims of Mostaan 110's capabilities were met with widespread criticism from both Iranian and international experts, who called it [[Pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] and compared it to the [[ADE 651]], a fake [[Explosive detection|explosive detector]] with a similar design.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://iranwire.com/en/features/6940 |title=Fact Check: How Big of a Lie is the Guards' Coronavirus Detector? |access-date=23 March 2022 |archive-date=29 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129093342/https://iranwire.com/en/features/6940 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Saliba |first1=Emmanuelle |last2=Gharagozlou |first2=Leila |title=Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps says its handheld device can detect coronavirus, scientists scoff |date=20 April 2020 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-s-revolutionary-guard-corps-says-its-handheld-device-can-n1186346 |access-date=17 October 2022 |publisher=NBC News |language=en |archive-date=17 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017171939/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-s-revolutionary-guard-corps-says-its-handheld-device-can-n1186346 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran's IRGC doubles down on claims of coronavirus detection machine – Al-Monitor: Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East |date=16 April 2020 |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/04/iran-coronavirus-detection-device-irgc-rouhani.html |access-date=17 October 2022 |publisher=Al-Monitor |language=en |archive-date=17 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017171940/https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2020/04/iran-coronavirus-detection-device-irgc-rouhani.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Iranians Make Fun Of 'Coronavirus Detection Device' Promoted By Revolutionary Guard |date=13 July 2020 |url=https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iranians-make-fun-of-coronavirus-detection-device-promoted-by-revolutionary-guard-/30723690.html |access-date=17 October 2022 |publisher=Radio Farda |archive-date=17 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017171940/https://en.radiofarda.com/amp/iranians-make-fun-of-coronavirus-detection-device-promoted-by-revolutionary-guard-/30723690.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In December 2022, German authorities accused the IRGC of attempting to orchestrate attacks against synagogues in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and spying on the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran's IRGC responsible for antisemitic attacks in Germany – report |url=https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-723869 |date=1 December 2022 |website=Jerusalem Post |access-date=3 December 2022 |archive-date=3 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203163440/https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-723869 |url-status=live }}</ref> Moreover, in 2020, IRGC members were exposed as having given a talk to UK students in which one spoke of an apocalyptic war with Jews.<ref>{{Cite news |date=22 January 2024 |title=UK officials probe Iran generals' antisemitic talks to students |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68016330 |access-date=16 April 2024 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB |archive-date=19 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419185626/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-68016330 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In July 2024, it was suspected that the IRGC had attempted to assassinate the former Iranian president, [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leishman |first=Fiona |date=24 July 2024 |title=Iranian President narrowly escapes assassination plot after his car is sabotaged |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-iranian-president-narrowly-escapes-33316060 |access-date=24 July 2024 |website=The Mirror |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Former Iranian president Ahmadinejad narrowly escapes assassination attempt – Türkiye Today |url=https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/former-iranian-president-ahmadinejad-narrowly-escapes-assassination-attempt-32543/ |access-date=24 July 2024 |language=en-US |archive-date=26 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726164329/https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/former-iranian-president-ahmadinejad-narrowly-escapes-assassination-attempt-32543/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Terrorist designation and sanctions ===
{{see also|List of designated terrorist groups}}
Since 15 April 2019, the [[United States]], which opposes the activities of Sepah, considers the IRGC as a [[terrorist organization]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-idUSKCN1RR1BE|title=U.S. officially designates Iran's Revolutionary Guards a terrorist group|last=Brice|first=Makini|date=15 April 2019|work=Reuters|access-date=16 April 2019|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416230151/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran-idUSKCN1RR1BE|archive-date=16 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> which some top [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] officials reportedly opposed.<ref name="Wong8April">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/world/middleeast/trump-iran-revolutionary-guard-corps.html|title=Trump Designates Iran's Revolutionary Guard a Foreign Terrorist Group|date=8 April 2019|access-date=8 April 2019|work=The New York Times|first1=Edward|last1=Wong|first2=Eric|last2=Schmitt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408170930/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/world/middleeast/trump-iran-revolutionary-guard-corps.html|archive-date=8 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> 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."<ref name="Kershner9April">{{cite news|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Exit Polls Suggest No Clear Winner in Israeli Election|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/09/world/middleeast/israel-election-results.html|date=9 April 2019|access-date=9 April 2019|first1=Isabel|last1=Kershner|first2=David M.|last2=Halbfinger|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410011841/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/09/world/middleeast/israel-election-results.html|archive-date=10 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> This designation was criticized by a number of governments including [[Turkey]], [[Iraq]] and [[China]] as well as the [[Islamic Consultative Assembly]], Iran's parliament, in which members wore IRGC uniforms in protest.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/04/iran-fto-designation-irgc-trump-reciprocation-reaction-tehran.html |title=Iran condemns, reciprocates designation of IRGC as terrorist organization – Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East |date=8 April 2019 |access-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422055845/https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2019/04/iran-fto-designation-irgc-trump-reciprocation-reaction-tehran.html |archive-date=22 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

On 29 April 2019, United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense [[Michael Mulroy]] said [[Iran]] posed five threats. The first was Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. The second was to maritime security in the [[Straits of Hormuz]] and the [[Bab al-Mandab]], because a substantial portion of energy trade and commercial goods go through those areas. The third was because of their support to proxies and militant organizations, including [[Hezbollah]] in Lebanon and Syria, [[Houthis]] in Yemen, some [[Hashd al-Shaabi]] in Iraq and safe-harboring senior [[al-Qaeda]] leaders in Iran. The fourth was Iranian made ballistic missiles sent to Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen for use against [[Saudi Arabia]] and to Syria with Hezbollah to use against [[Israel]]. Cyber is the fifth threat and a growing concern.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eurasiareview.com/02052019-middle-east-security-still-critical-to-us-says-pentagon-official/|title=Middle East Security Still Critical To US, Says Pentagon Official|date=2 May 2019|website=eurasiareview.com|access-date=5 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505010637/https://www.eurasiareview.com/02052019-middle-east-security-still-critical-to-us-says-pentagon-official/|archive-date=5 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article/1829790/middle-east-strategic-alliance-effort-aimed-at-stabilization/ |title=Middle East Strategic Alliance Effort Aimed at Stabilization |access-date=5 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505152048/https://www.defense.gov/explore/story/Article/1829790/middle-east-strategic-alliance-effort-aimed-at-stabilization/ |archive-date=5 May 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="c-span.org">{{cite web |url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?460180-2%2Fsyria-middle-east-security-michael-mulroy-remarks |title=Syria and Middle East Security, Michael Mulroy Remarks &#124; C-SPAN.org |access-date=2 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630144520/https://www.c-span.org/video/?460180-2%2Fsyria-middle-east-security-michael-mulroy-remarks |archive-date=30 June 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> He also said that the terrorist designation did not grant any additional authorities to the Department of Defense and that they were not asking for any.<ref name="c-span.org" />

The IRGC has never been designated as a terrorist organization by the [[United Nations]], although the [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929|UNSCR 1929]] had its assets frozen (this was lifted in 2016). Since 2010, the [[European Union]] has imposed broad sanctions on the IRGC and many of its members, without designating it as a terrorist organization.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.radiofarda.com/a/europe-stays-silent-over-designation-of-guards-as-terrorist-group-/29878754.html |title=Europe Stays Silent over Designation of Guards as 'Terrorist Group' |date=13 April 2019 |access-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422055846/https://en.radiofarda.com/a/europe-stays-silent-over-designation-of-guards-as-terrorist-group-/29878754.html |archive-date=22 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.iranwatch.org/sanctions/european-union |title=Sanctions Tally – European Union &#124; Iran Watch |access-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422055854/https://www.iranwatch.org/sanctions/european-union |archive-date=22 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Although [[Saudi Arabia]] and [[Bahrain]] already designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation,<ref name="Terror">{{cite news |title=Saudi, Bahrain add Iran's Revolutionary Guards to terrorism lists |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-bahrain-security-iran/saudi-bahrain-add-irans-revolutionary-guards-to-terrorism-lists-idUSKCN1MX288 |access-date=8 April 2019 |work=Reuters |date=23 October 2018 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408154459/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-bahrain-security-iran/saudi-bahrain-add-irans-revolutionary-guards-to-terrorism-lists-idUSKCN1MX288 |archive-date=8 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="wsj8apr">{{cite news |last1=Ballhaus |first1=Rebecca |title=U.S. Designates Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a Terror Organization |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-designates-irans-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-a-foreign-terrorist-organization-11554733155 |access-date=8 April 2019 |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |date=8 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408142421/https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-designates-irans-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-a-foreign-terrorist-organization-11554733155 |archive-date=8 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> several countries such as [[Australia]] are examining the possibility to designate the group as well. Canada outlawed the [[Quds Force]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/will-canada-also-designate-the-irgc-as-a-foreign-terrorist-entity |title=Will Canada also designate the IRGC as a foreign terrorist entity? |date=16 April 2019 |access-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422055849/https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/will-canada-also-designate-the-irgc-as-a-foreign-terrorist-entity |archive-date=22 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://aijac.org.au/featured/australia-and-the-irgc-is-a-ban-necessary/ |title=Australia and the IRGC: Is a ban necessary? |date=9 April 2019 |access-date=22 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422055849/https://aijac.org.au/featured/australia-and-the-irgc-is-a-ban-necessary/ |archive-date=22 April 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> On 3 October 2022, in reaction to the [[death of Mahsa Amini]] and the persecution of protestors in the [[Mahsa Amini protests|protests that ensued]], Canada officially sanctioned the IRGC. Foreign Affairs Minister [[Mélanie Joly]] announced sanctions targeting 9 entities, including the [[Guidance Patrol|Morality Police]] and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security, and 25 individuals, that include high-ranking officials and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. These individuals include IRGC Commander-in-Chief Major General [[Hossein Salami]], and [[Esmail Qaani]], commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9171749/canada-iran-sanctions-mahsa-amini-death-2/|title=Canada slaps new sanctions on Iran over death of Mahsa Amini|date=3 October 2022|website=globalnews.ca|access-date=7 October 2022|archive-date=7 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007193638/https://globalnews.ca/news/9171749/canada-iran-sanctions-mahsa-amini-death-2/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 7 October 2022, the [[Canadian government]] expanded the sanctions, banning 10,000 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from entering the country permanently, which represents the top 50% of the organization's leadership. Canadian Prime Minister [[Justin Trudeau]] added that Canada plans to expand the sanctions against those most responsible for Iran's "egregious behavior". Canadian Deputy Prime Minister [[Chrystia Freeland]] added that Iran was a "state sponsor of terror", and that "it is oppressive, theocratic and misogynist; The IRGC leadership are terrorists, the IRGC is a terrorist organization".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://globalnews.ca/news/9184757/iran-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-terrorism-list-mahsa-amini-protests/|title=Canada bans more than 10K Iran Revolutionary Guard members from entering country|date=7 October 2022|website=globalnews.ca|access-date=7 October 2022|archive-date=7 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007193639/https://globalnews.ca/news/9184757/iran-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps-terrorism-list-mahsa-amini-protests/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=7 October 2022 |title=Canada to ban Iran's IRGC leaders from entry, expand sanctions |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/canada-ban-irans-irgc-leaders-entry-expand-sanctions-2022-10-07/ |access-date=7 October 2022 |archive-date=7 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221007202953/https://www.reuters.com/world/canada-ban-irans-irgc-leaders-entry-expand-sanctions-2022-10-07/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to ''[[Arab News]]'', a 2020 report by the [[Tony Blair Institute for Global Change]] said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is an "institutionalized militia" that "uses its vast resources to spread a 'mission of jihad' through an 'ideological army' of recruits and proxies".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.arabnews.com/node/1622571/middle-east |title=Report compares Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to Daesh, Al-Qaeda |website=Arab News |date=4 February 2020 |access-date=8 February 2020 |archive-date=8 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208015912/https://www.arabnews.com/node/1622571/middle-east |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022, U.S. Secretary of State [[Antony Blinken]] said that the IRGC is "probably the most designated organisation – one way or another – in the world among the organisations that we designate, including the foreign terrorist organisation designation".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/27/irgc-terror-designation-takes-centre-stage-in-iran-nuclear-talks |title=Focus on the IRGC 'terror' designation in Iran nuclear talks |agency=Al Jazeera |access-date=1 April 2022 |archive-date=1 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401121256/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/27/irgc-terror-designation-takes-centre-stage-in-iran-nuclear-talks |url-status=live }}</ref>

In January 2023, it was reported that the United Kingdom was preparing to declare the IRGC a terrorist organization; this did not subsequently occur.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64156965 |title=Iran's Revolutionary Guards set to be labelled as terrorist group by UK |work=BBC News |date=3 January 2023 |agency=BBC News |access-date=3 January 2023 |archive-date=3 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230103235644/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-64156965 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 18 January 2023, the [[European Parliament]] passed an amendment proposed by the [[European Conservatives and Reformists Group|ECR Group]], to call for the EU and its member states to include the IRGC on the EU's terrorist list.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 January 2022 |title=PV-9-2023-01-18-RCV_FR |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-9-2023-01-18-RCV_FR.pdf |access-date=18 January 2022 |publisher=European Parliament |pages=57–58 |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119054449/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-9-2023-01-18-RCV_FR.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 19 June 2024, [[Canada]] designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization under the nation's [[Criminal Code (Canada)|Criminal Code]], citing “disregard for human rights” and “willingness to destabilize the international rules-based order.”<ref name="bbc20240619" />

In March 2025, the United States reportedly requested the new [[Syrian caretaker government|transitional administration]] in [[Syria]] to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization as a condition for partial sanctions relief.<ref>{{Cite web |title=US offers Syrian government conditions for limited sanctions relief |url=https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/03/us-offers-syrian-government-conditions-limited-sanctions-relief |access-date=2025-04-02 |website=AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012 |language=en}}</ref>

On 25 April 2025, [[Paraguay]] designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization.<ref name="upi.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/04/25/paraguay-designates-IRGC-Hamas-Hezbollah/4371745556945/|title=Paraguay hits Iran's IRGC with terrorist designation; expands designations for Hamas, Hezbollah|date=25 April 2025|website=[[United Press International]]}}</ref>

On 26 August 2025, [[Australia]] indicated that it would designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, pending legislation. This [[2024 Iranian operations inside Australia|followed attacks on Jewish sites in Australia]] which the [[Australian Security Intelligence Organisation]] determined were directed by the IRGC.<ref name="abc.net.au20250826">{{cite news |title=Australia expels Iranian ambassador after ASIO says it directed antisemitic attacks |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-26/iran-behind-antisemitic-attacks-asio-says/105697762 |access-date=26 August 2025 |work=ABC News |date=26 August 2025 |language=en-AU}}</ref>

On 16 September 2025, [[Ecuador]] designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization alongside Hamas and Hezbollah, citing threats to Ecuador's sovereignty and national security.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-16 |title=Ecuador Labels IRGC as "Terrorist Organization" |url=https://wanaen.com/ecuador-labels-irgc-as-terrorist-organization/ |access-date=2025-09-16 |website=WANA |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Response to terrorist organization designation ===
The move was met with unfavorable reactions from Iranian leaders and militants.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/11/the-revolutionary-guards-are-ready-to-strike-back/|title=The Revolutionary Guards Are Ready to Strike Back|last=Clarke|first=Colin|date=11 April 2019|website=Foreign Policy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421183451/https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/04/11/the-revolutionary-guards-are-ready-to-strike-back/|archive-date=21 April 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Shortly after the US announced the designation, the Iranian government declared the United States Central Command, whose area of responsibility includes the Middle East, as a terrorist organization.<ref name="wsj20190408">{{cite web|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-labels-u-s-central-command-a-terrorist-organization-11554750204|title=Iran Labels U.S. Central Command a Terrorist Organization|last=Eqbali|first=Aresu|date=8 April 2019|website=The Wall Street Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190509203213/https://www.wsj.com/articles/iran-labels-u-s-central-command-a-terrorist-organization-11554750204|archive-date=9 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Iran's Supreme National Security Council, the move "was in response to the illegal and unwise move from the U.S."<ref name="wsj20190408" /> The next day, Iranian Members of Parliament displayed their support of the IRGC by collectively wearing green military pants and chanted "[[death to America]]" as they opened session. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani also responded to the move, commenting that it was a mistake which would only increase the IRGC's popularity in Iran and elsewhere.<ref name="wsj20190408" />

Since the designation, the [[United States Department of State]]'s [[Rewards for Justice Program]] has offered a reward of up to US$15 million for financial background information about the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its branches,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rewardsforjustice.net/english/irgc.html|title=Act of Terror: Information on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps|publisher=Rewards for Justice|access-date=14 December 2019|archive-date=22 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222061651/https://rewardsforjustice.net/english/irgc.html|url-status=live}}</ref> including an IRGC financier, [[Abdul Reza Shahlai]],{{efn|The United States unsuccessfully targeted Abdul Reza Shahlai in Yemen on the same day of [[2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike|assassination of Qasem Soleimani]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/on-the-day-us-forces-killed-soleimani-they-launched-another-secret-operation-targeting-a-senior-iranian-official-in-yemen/2020/01/10/60f86dbc-3245-11ea-898f-eb846b7e9feb_story.html|title=On the day U.S. forces killed Soleimani, they targeted a senior Iranian official in Yemen|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=10 January 2020|access-date=11 January 2020|archive-date=11 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200111032100/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/on-the-day-us-forces-killed-soleimani-they-launched-another-secret-operation-targeting-a-senior-iranian-official-in-yemen/2020/01/10/60f86dbc-3245-11ea-898f-eb846b7e9feb_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> which led to the death of Mohammad Mirza, a Quds Force operative, instead.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theintercept.com/2020/01/10/us-strike-abdul-reza-shahlai-yemen/|title=U.S. Strike on Iranian Commander in Yemen the Night of Suleimani's Assassination Killed the Wrong Man|website=The Intercept|date=10 January 2020|access-date=11 January 2020|archive-date=18 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211018090854/https://theintercept.com/2020/01/10/us-strike-abdul-reza-shahlai-yemen/|url-status=live}}</ref>}} who it says was responsible for a raid that killed five American soldiers in [[Karbala]], Iraq on 20 January 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2019/12/05/us-offering-15-million-bounty-for-info-on-iranian-who-planned-2007-karbala-attack-that-killed-5-us-troops/|title=US offering $15 million for info on Iranian planner of 2007 Karbala attack that killed 5 US troops|website=Military Times|date=5 December 2019|access-date=14 December 2019|archive-date=17 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217223949/https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/2019/12/05/us-offering-15-million-bounty-for-info-on-iranian-who-planned-2007-karbala-attack-that-killed-5-us-troops/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Following Canada's designation of the IRGC as a terrorist organization, Iran strongly condemned the move. As a result, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Italian ambassador in Tehran, who represents Canadian interests in the country. In a statement, the ministry expressed Iran's “strong protest” over what it described as an “unlawful and internationally illegal” act by the Canadian government. The statement also warned of potential consequences and emphasized Iran's right to take necessary and reciprocal measures. According to the ministry, the Italian ambassador pledged to promptly convey the message to Canadian authorities.<ref>{{Cite news |date=20 June 2024 |title=Iran Summons Italian Envoy to Protest Canada's Listing of IRGC as Terrorist |url=https://www.iranintl.com/en/202406202970 |access-date=2 May 2025 |work=[[Iran International]]}}</ref> Spokesperson [[Nasser Kanaani]] called the move “hostile” and contrary to international law while the acting foreign minister [[Ali Bagheri]] said on [[Twitter|X]] that the Canadian government will be responsible for the consequences of this provocative and irresponsible decision, referring to the designation.<ref>{{Cite news |date=21 June 2024 |title=Iran summons Italy envoy over Canada sanctions |url=https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2024/06/21/iran-summons-italy-envoy-over-canada-sanctions |access-date=2 May 2025 |work=[[Al Arabiya English]]}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Iran}}
* [[Composite Index of National Capability]]
* [[Islamic Republic of Iran Army]]
* [[Ministry of Revolutionary Guards]]
* [[Rahian-e Noor]]
** [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization|Research and Self-Sufficiency Jihad Organization]]
* [[Operations attributed to Israel in Iran]]
* [[Economic activities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps]]
* [[Unit 190]]
* [[Unit 840]]
* [[Iran's ballistic missiles program]]
* [[Imam Ali Central Security Headquarters]]
* [[Alborz Corps]]
* [[Unit 700]]
* [[Vali-ye Amr special forces unit]]
* [[Pasdar (IRGC)]]

== References ==
=== Notes ===
{{notelist}}

=== References ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources ===
* {{cite journal |last=Alfoneh |first=Ali |title=The Revolutionary Guards' Role in Iranian Politics |journal=Middle East Quarterly |date=Fall 2008 |volume=15 |number=4 |pages=3–14 |url=http://www.meforum.org/1979/the-revolutionary-guards-role-in-iranian-politics |access-date=11 October 2012}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book |last=Azizi |first=Arash |title=The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, the US, and Iran's Global Ambitions |publisher=Oneworld Publications |date=November 2020 |isbn=9781786079442 |location=New York}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Alemzadeh |first1=Maryam |title=The attraction of direct action: the making of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in the Iranian Kurdish conflict |journal=British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies |date=2021 |volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=589–608 |doi=10.1080/13530194.2021.1990013|s2cid=239554621}}
* Hesam Forozan, The Military in Post-Revolutionary Iran: The Evolution and Roles of the Revolutionary Guards, {{c.|2017}}
* Safshekan, Roozbeh; Sabet, Farzan, "The Ayatollah's Praetorians: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the 2009 Election Crisis", ''The [[Middle East Journal]]'', Volume 64, Number 4, Autumn 2010, pp.{{nbs}}543–558(16).
* {{cite book |last=Wise |first=Harold Lee |title=Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf 1987–88 |url=http://www.insidethedangerzone.com |location=Annapolis |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-59114-970-5}} (discusses U.S. military clashes with Iranian Revolutionary Guard during the Iran–Iraq War)
*{{cite web|url=https://www.bmlv.gv.at/pdf_pool/publikationen/book_the_iranian_security_apparatus_posch_web.pdf|title=The Iranian Security Apparatus|first=Walter|last=Posch|publisher=Schriftenreihe der Landesverteidigungsakademie|place=Vienna|year=2024}}
*{{cite journal|url=https://capsindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Shelly-Johny-2.pdf|title=Iranian Political System and the IRGC|first=Shelly|last=Johny|journal=Air Power|volume=2|issue=3|year=2007|pages=111–137|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250621111154/https://capsindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Shelly-Johny-2.pdf|archive-date=2025-06-21}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080723102522/http://www.sepahnews.com/ Official media news outlet] used by the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution {{in lang|fa}} (archived)
* [[Vali Nasr]] and [[Ali Gheissari]] (13 December 2004) [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/opinion/13nasr.html "Foxes in Iran's Henhouse"], ''[[New York Times]]'' op-ed article about the growing IRGC role in Iran's power structure
* [[David Ignatius]] (17 April 2008) [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/16/AR2008041602900.html? "A Blast Still Reverberating"] ''[[Washington Post]]'' Discussion of 1983 Beirut US Embassy bombing

{{Iran Military}}
{{IRGC Commanders}}
{{Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps}}
{{Iran–Saudi Arabia relations}}
{{Iran–United States relations}}
{{authority control}}

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