A report on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Seal of IRGC
IRGC's naval special forces, S.N.S.F.
IRGC tank in 2012 military parade in Tehran
Qiam (left) and Sejjil 2 (right) ballistic missiles in a 2012 exhibition
One of the various types of fast attack craft used by the IRGC

Branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, founded after the Iranian Revolution on 22 April 1979 by order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

- Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
Seal of IRGC

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Iran

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Country in Western Asia.

Country in Western Asia.

Inscription of Ardeshir Babakan (r. 224–242) in Naqsh-e Rostam: "This is the figure of Mazdaworshiper, the lord Ardashir, Shahanshah of Iran..."
An Ashrafi Coin of Nader Shah (r. 1736–1747), reverse:"Coined on gold the word of kingdom in the world, Nader of Greater Iran and the world-conquerer king."
A cave painting in Doushe cave, Lorestan, from the 8th millennium BC
A bas-relief at Persepolis, depicting the united Medes and Persians
Tomb of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire, in Pasargadae
The Achaemenid Empire (550 BC–330 BC) around the time of Darius the Great and Xerxes I
The Parthian Empire (247 BC–224 AD) in 94 BC at its greatest extent, during the reign of Mithridates II
Tomb of Hafez, a medieval Persian poet whose works are regarded as a pinnacle in Persian literature and have left a considerable mark on later Western writers, most notably Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Henry David Thoreau, and Emerson
Venetian portrait, kept at the Uffizi, of Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid Empire
A portrait of AbbasI, the powerful, pragmatic Safavid ruler who reinforced Iran's military, political, and economic power
Statue of Nader Shah, the first Afsharid ruler of Iran, at his Tomb
A map showing the 19th-century northwestern borders of Iran, comprising modern-day eastern Georgia, Dagestan, Armenia, and the Republic of Azerbaijan, before being ceded to the neighboring Russian Empire by the Russo-Iranian wars
The first national Iranian Parliament was established in 1906 during the Persian Constitutional Revolution
Reza Shah, the first Pahlavi king of Iran, in military uniform
The Allied "Big Three" at the 1943 Tehran Conference.
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the Imperial Family during the coronation ceremony of the Shah of Iran in 1967.
Ruhollah Khomeini's return to Iran on 1February 1979
An Iranian soldier wearing a gas mask on the front-line during the Iran–Iraq War
The Green Movement's Silent Demonstration during the 2009–10 Iranian election protests
The 2017–18 Iranian protests were initiated on 31 December 2017 and continued for months.
Mount Damavand, Iran's highest point, is located in Amol, Mazenderan.
Persian leopard, listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List.
Iran's most populated cities (2010)
Iran's syncretic political system combines elements of an Islamic theocracy with vetted democracy.
Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, meeting with his counterpart, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping on 23 January 2016. Iran and China are strategic allies.
Ali Khamenei voting in the 2017 presidential election
Iranian former President Hassan Rouhani meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Iran and Russia are strategic allies.
The Islamic Consultative Assembly, also known as the Iranian Parliament
Protest against U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as capital of Israel. Tehran, 11 December 2017.
Sophisticated indigenous long range missile system Bavar-373 paraded in Tehran.
Iran's provinces by their contribution to national GDP (2014)
Historical GDP per capita development
A proportional representation of Iran exports, 2019
More than a million tourists visit Kish Island each year.
Iran holds 10% of the world's proven oil reserves and 15% of its gas. It is OPEC's second largest exporter and the world's 7th largest oil producer.
Literacy rate of Iran's population plus 15, 1975–2015, according to UNESCO Institute of Statistics
Sharif University of Technology is one of Iran's most prestigious higher education institutions.
The production line for AryoSeven at the Iranian biopharmaceutical company of AryoGen
Simorgh launch, Iranian Space Agency
Iran's population growth (1880–2016)
Iran's provinces by population density (2013)
Iron Age gold cup from Marlik, kept at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art
Kamal-ol-Molk's Mirror Hall, often considered a starting point in Iranian modern art
Tomb of the 10th-century Persian poet Ferdowsi, author of Šāhnāme, the classical Persian composition of the Iranian national epics, in Tus
Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism, depicted on Raphael's The School of Athens
Karna, an ancient Iranian musical instrument from the 6th century BC, kept at the Persepolis Museum
The Roudaki Hall, constructed between 1957 and 1967 in Tehran
Reproduction of the 3rd-millennium BC goblet from southeastern Iran, possibly the world's oldest example of animation.
Abbas Kiarostami (1940–2016), an acclaimed Iranian film director
Behrouz Vossoughi, a well-known Iranian actor who has appeared in more than 90 films
Haft-Seen, a customary of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year
Chelow kabab (rice and kebab), one of Iran's national dishes
Skiers at the Dizin Ski Resort
The Azadi Stadium in Tehran is West Asia's largest football stadium.
Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, meeting with his counterpart, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping on 23 January 2016. Iran and China are strategic allies.
An Iranian tea tray served near Garden of Mausoleum of Omar Khayyam in Nishapur

Three days after, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched a retaliatory attack on US forces in Iraq and by accident shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, killing 176 civilians and leading to nation-wide protests.

Eight directorates of Quds Force operations according to David Dionisi

Quds Force

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Eight directorates of Quds Force operations according to David Dionisi
The Quds force's commander, General Qasem Soleimani was involved with both the planning as well as the execution of the operation to expel ISIL from Tikrit

The Quds Force is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) specializing in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations.

Soleimani in uniform with the Order of Zolfaghar in 2019

Qasem Soleimani

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Soleimani in uniform with the Order of Zolfaghar in 2019
Qasem Soleimani (left) during the Iran–Iraq war in combat uniform
General Soleimani in the NAC, a conference of generals of Iran
Qasem Soleimani, commander of the 41st Tharallah Division in Iran-Iraq war, Third person from the left
Soleimani receiving the Order of Zolfaghar from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Map of Al-Qusayr and its environs. The Al-Qusayr offensive was reportedly orchestrated by Soleimani.
Map of the 2015 Aleppo offensives
A map of Saladin Governorate in Iraq. Soleimani was involved in breaking the Siege of Amirli by ISIL in the eastern part of the governorate.
Soleimani praying in the Syrian desert in 2017
Soleimani speaking at International Day of Mosque conference
Soleimani at the farewell ceremony of his father in 2017
Mourners at Azadi Square, Tehran
Soleimani's grave. He had asked for a simple gravestone "similar to [his] shahid comrades" and without any honorific title inscribed along his name.
Commemoration ceremony (anniversary) of "Qasem-Soleimani", in Tehran
Soleimani behind the scenes of the film 23 People

Qasem Soleimani (, ; 11 March 1957 – 3January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Ahmadinejad in 2019

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

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Iranian conservative politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013.

Iranian conservative politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013.

Ahmadinejad in 2019
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a press conference, 21 June 2005
Ahmadinejad at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012
Ahmadinejad speaking at Columbia University, September 2007
Participants of the second Caspian Summit in October 2007. From left to right: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbaev, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ahmadinejad speaking in the Majlis, Chairman Ali Larijani is also pictured
Ahmadinejad with Ali Khamenei, Ali Larijani and Sadeq Larijani in 2011
Countries visited by President Ahmadinejad during his terms in office
Ahmadinejad with leaders of the Caspian sea bordering nations
Ahmadinejad meeting with former Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Tehran
Demonstration against Ahmadinejad during the Rio+20 conference in Brazil
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chávez in July 2006
Ahmadinejad in his presidential museum, known as Office of the Former President of Islamic Republic of Iran
Ahmadinejad casting his vote in 2016 elections

During his second term, Ahmadinejad experienced a power struggle with reformers and other traditionalists in parliament and the Revolutionary Guard and with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, over his dismissal of intelligence minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje'i and his support for his controversial close adviser, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei.

Top-left to bottom-right: Iranian child soldier on the frontlines Iranian soldier in a trench wearing a gas mask to guard against Iraqi chemical attacks Port quarter view of the USS Stark listing to port after being mistakenly struck by an Iraqi warplane Pro-Iraq MEK forces killed during Iran's Operation Mersad Iraqi prisoners of war after the recapture of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun being used by the Iranian Army

Iran–Iraq War

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Protracted armed conflict that began on 22 September 1980 with a full-scale invasion of Iran by neighbouring Iraq.

Protracted armed conflict that began on 22 September 1980 with a full-scale invasion of Iran by neighbouring Iraq.

Top-left to bottom-right: Iranian child soldier on the frontlines Iranian soldier in a trench wearing a gas mask to guard against Iraqi chemical attacks Port quarter view of the USS Stark listing to port after being mistakenly struck by an Iraqi warplane Pro-Iraq MEK forces killed during Iran's Operation Mersad Iraqi prisoners of war after the recapture of Khorramshahr by Iranian forces ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft gun being used by the Iranian Army
Meeting of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Houari Boumédiène and Saddam Hussein (left to right) during the Algiers Agreement in 1975.
Ruhollah Khomeini rose to power after the Iranian Revolution.
Location of Khuzestan Province in Iran which Iraq planned to annex
Iranian President Abolhassan Banisadr, who was also commander-in-chief, on a Jeep-mounted 106mm recoilless anti-tank gun. Banisadr was impeached in June 1981.
The Shatt al-Arab on the Iran–Iraq border
Destroyed Iranian C-47 Skytrain
Iranian F-14A Tomcats equipped with AIM-54A, AIM-7 and AIM-9 missiles.
Resistance of the outnumbered and outgunned Iranians in Khorramshahr slowed the Iraqis for a month.
Iranian president Abulhassan Banisadr on the battlefront
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Massoud Rajavi, the leader of MEK and the National Resistance Council of Iran (NCRI) in 1988.
The surprise attack on H-3 airbase is considered to be one of the most sophisticated air operations of the war.
Iranian soldier holding an IV bag during the Iran–Iraq War
Iranian Northrop F-5 aircraft during Iran-Iraq war
Iraqi T-62 tank wreckage in Khuzestan Province, Iran
Iraqi soldiers surrendering after the Liberation of Khorramshahr
Saddam Hussein in 1982
An admonitory declaration issued from the Iraqi government in order to warn Iranian troops in the Iran–Iraq War. The statement says: "Hey Iranians! No one has been downtrodden in the country where Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib, Husayn ibn Ali and Abbas ibn Ali are buried. Iraq has undoubtedly been an honorable country. All refugees are precious. Anyone who wants to live in exile can choose Iraq freely. We, the Sons of Iraq, have been ambushing foreign aggressors. The enemies who plan to assault Iraq will be disfavoured by God in this world and the hereafter. Be careful of attacking Iraq and Ali ibn Abi Ṭālib! If you surrender, you might be in peace."
95,000 Iranian child soldiers were made casualties during the Iran–Iraq War, mostly between the ages of 16 and 17, with a few younger.
Furthest ground gains
Iranian POWs in 1983 near Tikrit, Iraq
Iranian child soldier
Iraqi POW who was shot by Iranian troops after they conquered the Iraqi Majnoon oil field in October 1984
Iranian troops fire 152 mm D-20 howitzer
Battle of the Marshes Iran front 1983 rest after exchange of fire 152 mm D-20 H
Operation Earnest Will: Tanker convoy No. 12 under US Navy escort (21 October 1987)
A map indicating the attacks on civilian areas of Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait targeted during the "War of the Cities".
Iraqi commanders discussing strategy on the battlefront (1986)
Iranian President Ali Khamenei on the battlefront during the Iran–Iraq War
Operation Dawn 8 during which Iran captured the Faw Peninsula.
Iranian soldier killed during the Iran–Iraq War with Rouhollah Khomeini's photo on his uniform
The People's Mujahedin of Iran, supported by Saddam, started a ten-day operation after both the Iranian and Iraqi governments accepted UN Resolution 598. Casualty estimates range from 2,000 to 10,000.
Adnan Khairallah, Iraqi Defense Minister, meeting with Iraqi soldiers during the war
IRGC navy speedboats using swarm tactics
An Iranian soldier wearing a gas mask during the Iran–Iraq War.
The Iranian frigate IS Sahand burns after being hit by 20 U.S. air launched missiles and bombs, killing a third of the crew, April 1988
Iranian soldiers captured during Iraq's 1988 offensives
USS Vincennes in 1987 a year before it shot down Iran Air Flight 655
MEK Soldiers killed in Operation Mersad in 1988
Al-Shaheed Monument in Baghdad was erected to commemorate the fallen Iraqi soldiers during the war.
Iranian Martyr Cemetery in Isfahan
Iranian Martyrs Museum in Tehran
An Iranian soldier's funeral in Mashhad, 2013
An Iraqi Mil Mi-24 on display at the military museum of Sa'dabad Palace in Iran
President Ronald Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush work in the Oval Office of the White House, 20 July 1984.
USS Stark (FFG-31) listing following two hits by Exocet missiles.
Victims of the 1987 chemical attack on Sardasht, West Azerbaijan, Iran
Damage to a mosque in Khoramshahr, Iran, the city that was invaded by Iraq in September 1980

Meanwhile, a new paramilitary organisation gained prominence in Iran, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (often shortened to Revolutionary Guards, and known in Iran as the Sepah-e-Pasdaran).

Iranians protesting in Valiasr Square in the capital Tehran

2009 Iranian presidential election protests

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Protests against the results of the highly controversial 2009 Iranian presidential election, a disputed victory by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, occurred in major cities nationwide from 2009 into early 2010.

Protests against the results of the highly controversial 2009 Iranian presidential election, a disputed victory by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in support of opposition candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, occurred in major cities nationwide from 2009 into early 2010.

Iranians protesting in Valiasr Square in the capital Tehran
Protesters mobilising in Tehran before mass protests on 13 June
A bus burns on the streets of downtown Tehran as protesters cycle by on 13 June
Former vice-president Mohammad-Ali Abtahi was among those arrested on 16 June, according to Reuters.
Riot police blocking a street in Tehran
Silent demonstration from Hafte Tir Square to Enqelab Square, Tehran, 16 June 2009
Presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi and his wife, Zahra Rahnavard in the protests of 15 June which recorded as the biggest unrest since the 1979 revolution

Opposition groups also reported thousands more were arrested and tortured in prisons around the country, with former inmates alleging mass rape of men, women and children by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, in prisons such as Kahrizak and Evin.

The explosion from the drone strike, as seen from a nearby suburb

Assassination of Qasem Soleimani

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Iranian major general, was killed by a U.S. drone strike at Baghdad International Airport.

Iranian major general, was killed by a U.S. drone strike at Baghdad International Airport.

The explosion from the drone strike, as seen from a nearby suburb
The explosion from the drone strike, as seen from a nearby suburb
Qasem Soleimani praying alongside Iranian-backed militiamen in the Syrian Desert during the Syrian Civil War.
An MQ-9 Reaper drone delivered the payload that killed Soleimani
General Qasem Soleimani (left) and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were among those killed.
U.S. paratroopers assigned to 1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division's Immediate Response Force deploying to the Middle East following the Baghdad airstrike, 4January 2020
Impact of the attack, and Iranian retaliation, on Brent crude oil prices (bottom right, green)

Soleimani was commander of the Quds Force, one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and was considered the second most powerful person of Iran, subordinate to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Basij

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The Basij (, lit. "The Mobilization"), Niru-ye Moghāvemat-e Basij (, "Resistance Mobilization Force"), full name Sâzmân-e Basij-e Mostaz'afin (, "The Organization for Mobilization of the Oppressed"), is one of the five forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Khamenei in 2022

Ali Khamenei

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Twelver Shia Marja' and the second and current supreme leader of Iran, in office since 1989.

Twelver Shia Marja' and the second and current supreme leader of Iran, in office since 1989.

Khamenei in 2022
A teenage Khamenei
Khamenei in a protest during Iranian Revolution in Mashhad
Ali Khamenei in military uniform during Iran–Iraq War
Khamenei in the hospital after the assassination attempt
Ali Khamenei has shaken hands with his left hand since the unsuccessful assassination.
Khamenei as Tehran's Friday Prayer Imam in 1979
Khamenei reading Will of Ruhollah Khomeini in Assembly of Experts
Khamenei in 2018
Khamenei in 2020
Khamenei at the Great Conference of Basij members at Azadi Stadium, October 2018
Khamenei during a meeting with Qaris
International Holy Quran Competition's participants meeting with Khamenei, June 2013
Participants of 31st International Islamic Unity Conference meeting with Khamenei, December 2017
Khamenei and former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Khamenei with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ali Larijani and Sadeq Larijani in 2011
Khamenei at a public speech, 2018
Khamenei casting his vote in 2013 presidential election
Khamenei in meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, 23 November 2015
Khamenei meeting with his counterpart, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping, 23 January 2016
Khamenei with Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, 11 February 2017
Sixth International Conference in Support of the Palestinian Intifada, Tehran, 2017
Pro-government Syrians with portraits of Assad, Ayatollah Khomeini and Khamenei, April 2018
Khamenei speaking to Iranian Air Force personnel, 6 February 2016
Khamenei meeting with Hajj authorities, 2018
Iranian women with portraits of Khamenei, 2014
Khamenei in 2022
Khamenei meeting with his counterpart, China's paramount leader Xi Jinping, 23 January 2016

Khamenei was one of Iran's leaders during the Iran–Iraq War in the 1980s, and developed close ties with the now powerful Revolutionary Guards which he controls, and whose commanders are elected and dismissed by him.

Hezbollah

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Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992.

Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and militant group, led by its Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah since 1992.

Organizational chart of Hezbollah, by Ahmad Nizar Hamzeh
Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the third and current Secretary General of Hezbollah
Hezbollah-controlled areas in July 2006, most of Lebanon's majority Shi'a areas.
10 December 2006 anti-government rally in Beirut
A smoke cloud rises from the bombed American barracks at Beirut International Airport, where over 200 U.S. marines were killed
Hezbollah posters in the aftermath of the 2006 Lebanon War

The organization was established as part of an Iranian effort, through funding and the dispatch of a core group of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (pasdaran) instructors, to aggregate a variety of Lebanese Shia groups into a unified organization to resist the Israeli occupation and improve the standing and status of the long marginalised and underrepresented Shia community in that country.