DUBAI, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Iran’s armed forces normal workers, which coordinates actions between its standard military and the Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned the European Union on Thursday to not record the elite power as a terrorist entity, state media reported.
On Wednesday, the European Parliament known as for the EU to record the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organisation, blaming it for the repression of home protesters and the provision of drones to Russia’s army engaged in Ukraine.
Following are some questions and solutions concerning the highly effective Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran’s dominant army power, with its personal military, navy, air power and intelligence wing:
WHAT IS THE IRGC?
It was arrange shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to guard the Shi’ite clerical ruling system and supply a counterweight to the common armed forces.
It solutions to Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The IRGC has an estimated 125,000-strong army with military, navy and air models. It additionally instructions the Basij spiritual militia, a volunteer paramilitary power loyal to the clerical institution which is commonly used to crack down on anti-government protests.
Basijis mounted “human wave” assaults in opposition to Iraqi troops in the course of the Nineteen Eighties conflict. In peacetime, they implement Iran’s Islamic social codes. Analysts say Basij volunteers could quantity within the tens of millions, with 1 million energetic members.
The Quds Power is the international espionage and paramilitary arm of the IRGC that closely influences its allied militia throughout the Center East, from Lebanon to Iraq and Yemen to Syria. Its members have fought in assist of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil conflict and have backed Iraqi safety forces of their battle in opposition to Islamic State militants in recent times.
Its prime commander, Main-Normal Qassem Soleimani, was killed by the USA in a drone assault in Iraq in 2020. His demise raised fears of a significant battle. The killing of all American leaders wouldn’t be sufficient to avenge the assassination of Soleimani, a senior Iranian Guards commander mentioned later.
The IRGC, branded a terrorist group and sanctioned by the USA, has hunted for years to form the Center East in favour of Tehran. As an illustration, it based Lebanon’s Hezbollah in 1982 to export Iran’s Islamic Revolution and battle Israeli forces that invaded Lebanon that very same yr.
Hezbollah is now a significant army power which has performed a task in regional conflicts.
WHAT ARE THE IRGC’S MILITARY CAPABILITIES?
The IRGC oversees Iran’s ballistic missile programme, regarded by specialists as the biggest within the Center East.
The Guards have used the missiles to hit Sunni Muslim militants in Syria and Iranian Kurdish opposition teams in northern Iraq. America, European powers and Saudi Arabia blamed Iran for a 2019 missile and drone assault that crippled the world’s greatest oil processing facility in Saudi Arabia. Iran denied any involvement within the assault.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump pointed to Iran’s missile programme as one of many factors not addressed in its 2015 nuclear take care of world powers and which he cited as a purpose for pulling out in 2018.
The Guards have intensive standard fight {hardware} and capabilities which have been showcased of their involvement within the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
WHAT IS THE IRGC’S POSITION IN IRAN’S POLITICAL SYSTEM?
Former Revolutionary Guards officers occupy key positions in Iran’s institution, from the federal government to parliament. Most of President Ebrahim Raisi’s cupboard are former IRGC officers.
The IRGC’s mandate to guard revolutionary values has prompted it to talk out when it felt the system was threatened.
WHAT ABOUT BUSINESS INTERESTS?
After the Nineteen Eighties Iraq conflict, the IRGC grew to become closely concerned in Iran’s reconstruction and has expanded its financial pursuits to incorporate an unlimited community of companies, starting from oil and gasoline tasks to building and telecommunication. Its enterprise pursuits are price billions of {dollars}.
Reporting by Michael Georgy
Modifying by Mark Heinrich
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.
