Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

The Islamic Revolution's Guards Corp (Persian: سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی - Sepah-e Pasdaran-e Enghelab-e Islami), also known as the Guards Corp (Sepah-e Pasdaran), or the Guards (Pasdaran), is the largest branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran's military.^[1]

In the western media the force is also commonly referred to as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards or simply Revolutionary Guards. In the USA, the media uses the term Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)^[2] The term Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG) appears to be the preferred term of the British Armed Forces, and was used by Lt. Felix Carman when discussing his capture.^[3]

The AGIR is separate from, and parallel to, the regular Army, Navy, and Air Force. It is equipped with its own ground forces, navy, air force, intelligence^[4], and special forces. It also controls the basij militia, which has a potential strength of eleven million, although the Basij essentially consists of 90,000 regular soldiers and 300,000 reservists.

Branches & Manpower
Quds Force	estimated 2,000 or anywhere from 3,000 to 50,000
Basij	90,000 full-time, 300,000 reservists, 11,000,000 potential strength (2005 est.)
IRGC Navy	20,000 (2005 est.)
IRGC Air Force	(unknown)
IRGC Ground Forces	(unknown)
Commander in Chief
Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi

History

The force's main role is in national security, responsible for internal and border security, as well as law enforcement. It is also responsible for Iran's missile forces. The operations of the AGIR are geared towards asymmetric warfare and less traditional duties. These include the control of smuggling, control of the Strait of Hormoz, and resistance operations.^[5]

Following the end of the Iran-Iraq war, some efforts were made to create a joint command between the regular army and the AGIR, but these have been limited in scope and have not had a major impact. ^{[citation needed]} Ultimately, it seems that the two forces will operate separately but focus on different operational roles.^[6]

The AGIR were formed in May 1979 as a force loyal to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, but later became a full military force alongside the army in the Iran-Iraq War. It was infamous for its human wave attacks such as during Operation Ramadan, an assault on the city of Basra.

The present Chief Commander of the AGIR is Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi who was preceded by Mohsen Rezaee. Iran's current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a member of the Revolutionary Guard, subordinate to the AGIR, during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.

2006 plane crash

In January 2006, an IRGC Falcon carrying fifteen passengers crashed near Oroumieh, killing all 15, including 12 senior IRGC commanders.[5] Among the dead was General Ahmad Kazemi, the IRGC ground forces commander. [6]

Lebanon and Hezbollah

The AGIR's logo was inspiration for the logo of Hezbollah. It has also been claimed that the AGIR has provided military training to Hezbollah fighters in the Bekaa valley during the early eighties.^[7]

During the Lebanese civil war, the AGIR allegedly sent troops to train fighters in response to the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon^[8]. In Lebanon, political parties had staunch opinions regarding the AGIR's presence. Some, mainly the Christian militias such as the Lebanese Forces, Phalanges, and most of the right-wing Christian groups declared war on the AGIR, claiming they violated Lebanese sovereignty. Others were neutral. Groups such as the PSP and Mourabiton did not approve of their presence, but to serve political alliances they decided to remain silent on the matter. This presence has also later been linked to the disappearance of four Iranian diplomats in Lebanon, with the Lebanese Forces being the main culprits.

Other sides have expressed concern but remained neutral as they saw the AGIR's presence in Lebanon as resistance against Israeli presence. This came despite the ongoing fight between the Shiaa Amal militias and the PLO and its Sunni allies.

AGIR in the Iraq War

The AGIR involvement in Iraq has been a heavily disputed issue of late. The U.S. DoD (Department of Defense) has claimed that it has intelligence reports of heavy Islamic Revolutionary Guard involvement in Iraq in which the force is supplying Shia militias, including the Mahdi Army. It is further claimed that US soldiers have been killed by Iranian-made or designed improvised explosive devices. This claim is disputed by Iran in that the Mahdi Army leader, Moqtada al-Sadr, is fiercely anti-Iranian, and that the bulk of American military deaths in Iraq are due to a Sunni insurgency and not a Shiite one. Iran further disputes that former Iraqi army personnel, whom, prior to the 2003 invasion, the US and UK claimed were capable of deploying advanced missile systems capable of launching WMDs within 45 minutes, would be incapable of designing and producing improvised explosive devices.

These charges come as the United States has its own trouble tracking weapons being supplied to Iraq. The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of the US Congress, said in a July 31 (2007) report that 135,000 out of 215,000 items of body armor were missing and that the Pentagon cannot account for 190,000 AK-47 rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces between 2004 and 2005. ^[9]. Security analysts with the Centre for Defence Information, along with one senior Pentagon official, suggested that some of the weapons have probably made their way in to the hands of Iraqi insurgents. ^[10] This comes as Italian arms investigators stopped Iraqi government officials from illegally shipping more than 100,000 Russian-made automatic weapons into Iraq. The situation has led Turkey and Iran to complain U.S.-supplied guns are flowing from Iraq to anti-government militants on their soil.^[11]

In January 2007 the US army detained five Iranians in northern Iraq, claiming they were Quds operatives of the AGIR, providing military assistance to Shiite militias. The Iranian and Iraqi governments maintain that they were diplomats working for the Iranian consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Terrorist designation controversy with the United States

In August 2007, the Washington Post stated that the U.S. government was considering labeling the Revolutionary Guard a "terrorist organization." This possible decision to designate the Guard as a terrorist group was based on "the group's growing involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as its support for extremists throughout the Middle East."^[12]

President Karzai of Afghanistan has argued that Iran is "a helper and a solution"^[13] for Afghanistan while Prime Minister Maliki of Iraq has argued that Iran has a "positive and constructive" role in helping the Iraqi government improve security in his wartorn nation.^[14] When asked if Iran is supplying weapons to the Taliban by Voice of America, a U.S.-funded outlet, Ahmedinejad laughed and said the US doesn't want Iran to be friends with Afghanistan. "What is the reason they are saying such things?" asked Ahmedinejad. ^[15]

The declaration will enlarge the U.S.'s legal options for attacking the Guard's business network and financial supports in the U.S. and abroad. This will be the first time official armed units of a sovereign state are included in the list of banned terrorist groups.^[16]

References and notes

External links

AP: U.S. envoy: Iran Revolutionary Guards Quds Force director detained
Iranian Military Pictures & videos
Foxes in Iran's Henhouse, a New York Times article about the role of the Revolutionary Guards in Iran's power structure
link to GlobalSecurity.org
AGIR navy, air forces to launch wargame in Persian Gulf, Oman Sea

[1] ttp://memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=1314

[2] [1][2][3]

[3] [4]

[4] ttp://www.janes.co.uk/security/international_security/news/jdw/jdw061004_1_n.shtml

[5] ttp://www.janes.co.uk/defence/news/jwar/jwar060829_1_n.shtml

[6] ttp://www.janes.co.uk/defence/news/jwar/jwar060829_1_n.shtml

[7] (Baer, R, See No Evil, 2002, Three Rivers Press, page 250)

[8] ttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/tehran/inside/govt.html#snsc

[9] Weapons Given to Iraq Are Missing

[10] Iraqis ‘lose’ thousands of US

[11] Italian arms investigators see Iraqi ties

[12] Iranian Unit to Be Labeled 'Terrorist'

[13] US feels heat as Iranian leader visits Afghanistan

[14] Leader: Iran, Iraq Must Work Together

[15] Ahmadinejad Makes First Visit to Afghanistan

[16] Iran Guards 'join US terror list'

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