Can you imagine if your country had a whole army dedicated almost exclusively to defending
the official ideology of the ruling party?
That is, to have two full armies and one of them basically being strictly dedicated to
defending the government and the political structures that control the country.
And no, we're not talking about North Korea or even China, where, by the way, the military
is statutorily beholden to the ruling party and not the state.
In this case we are talking about an old acquaintance of VisualPolitik: The Islamic Republic of
Iran. A State whose construction, believe me, is a kind of huge brain teaser in itself.
The Iranian State is made up of two major institutional structures:
On the one hand, there is the religious apparatus, a structure governed by the supreme leader,
the Ayatollah, which forms the theocratic part of the State. Remember that we are talking
about an Islamic Republic where religion is at the pinnacle of power.
For that reason, the religious apparatus is composed of a network of institutions that
have immense power within the country and which answer directly to the supreme leader
and which, of course, are not elected by the people.
The second system is composed of a president, a government and a parliament that are elected
more or less democratically by the voters. However, this second system, which is purely
political, is placed below the Ayatollah hierarchically. In Iran the religious dimension prevails over
the political one.
Well, exactly the same is true when we talk about the security forces.
One of the two "armies" we have mentioned is also hierarchically superior to the other.
And yes, the one that is superior is precisely the one under the direct orders of the Ayatollah.
We are talking about the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Better known to all as: the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
Now, the question that I am sure many of you are asking at this very moment is, why on
earth did Ayatollah Khomeini order the creation of a parallel armed forces, if there was already
an army in Iran?
Well, in a way the answer is none other than a lack of trust.
When the Islamic Revolution triumphed in Iran in 1979, the new regime of the ayatollahs
inherited an army which, until its victory, was known as the Imperial Iranian Army and
which was created in 1921 by Reza Shah, the father of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah
of Persia deposed by the revolution itself.
The fact is that the ayatollahs had serious doubts about the Iranian army's fidelity and
loyalty to the Islamic revolution and the new religious leaders who had taken control.
So in order to consolidate his power and prevent a possible coup d'état, Ayatollah Khomeini
ordered to unify, organise and equip the militias that were faithful to the revolution and had
participated in the overthrow of the previous regime.
And so the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was born, a parallel army that, among other functions,
also has the task of keeping the republic's national army in check in case it ever gets
out of line.
You could say it’s something like the praetorian guard of the ayatollahs. An army whose main
function has nothing to do with the control of the territory but with the protection of
the revolution.
And take note because we are not talking about a simple elite unit with a few thousand troops.
Not at all.
We are talking about a gigantic force, very powerful and influential both in the military
field and in the political and economic sphere. What’s more, it’s a force that just keeps
growing. And now, with the new conservative government that has taken power, it is back
in fashion.
(Iran's New Defense Minister Vows to Build Up IRGC's Military Power - Tasnim News Agency)
But how far do the tentacles of this kind of parallel army reach? What are their capabilities?
What is their real influence on Iranian politics and society?
And perhaps the most important question of all:
What kind of operations can they carry out?
Listen up.
(THE AYATOLLAH'S PRAETORIAN GUARD)
As we have already told you, Iran is one of the few countries, or perhaps the only one,
with two independent armed forces.
On the one hand there is the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran or Artesh, a traditional
army with its Navy, Air Force and Army.
And then, on the other hand, there is the Revolutionary Guard or Sepah.
And yes, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard also has its own Navy, its own Air Force and its
own Army.
[As I have already mentioned, these are two parallel armies, independent of each other].
Two armies with different commanders, who do not even agree on key issues. In fact,
it is not uncommon for them to hold opposing positions.
(Rare Criticism of IRGC Rooted in Iran's Military Rivalry – The Arab Gulf States Institute
in Washington
The regime-instigated and nurtured rivalry between the army and the IRGC has reached
a point where it undermines the regime).
The separation is such that the two armies do not even share personnel or equipment,
so that under no circumstances is a Revolutionary Guard Air Force fighter used by the Army Air
Force. And vice versa.
In fact, its own evolution is also very, very different: to the detriment of the conventional
army, the Revolutionary Guard is becoming more and more important and powerful.
Among other reasons, because this kind of parallel army has a very unusual advantage:
it is highly specialized in a specific type of war that is becoming more and more relevant
and which we have already talked about on VisualPolitik:
I am referring to Asymmetric Warfare.
Let me explain. Asymmetric warfare is, by definition, a type of warfare that pits two
sides with very disparate forces against each other and that usually never engage in direct
combat.
It is a type of war in which one of the two sides is organized in guerrilla units and
carries out its interventions through covert operations, small rapid strikes, and even
attacks and sabotage of all kinds.
We are talking about a type of strategy for which the support of local organizations,
such as tribal groups or armed gangs, is frequently sought. In other words, a type of warfare
that, in order to be effective, requires enormous amounts of intelligence, contacts and a very
advanced knowledge of the environment.
The point is that in practice, to carry out this type of warfare requires the development
of highly specialised structures that are dedicated and focused exclusively on this
mission: asymmetric warfare.
And you know what? In the case of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, such a structure exists.
It is known as the Quds Force.[CUDZ]
This is an elite force that I'm sure many of you are familiar with, if only because
of this news story:
(January 2020 – US Kills Commander of Iran's Elite Quds Force – VOA)
We covered it on VisualPolitik: The US drone assassination of Qasem Soleimani was a direct
blow to the Ayatollah's most important military unit.
It was a group famous for carrying out all kinds of asymmetric operations. Operations
such as kidnappings, sabotage, assassinations or also, for example, training and equipping
guerrillas and paramilitary forces whose objectives coincide with those of Tehran.
That is precisely the case of Hezbollah, Hamas or more recently the Taliban themselves.
But, wait a minute, does all this mean that the Revolutionary Guard is limited to carrying
out these kinds of special operations abroad?
No, nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that this organization has a
gigantic presence in Iranian politics. And not only in politics, but also in the country's
own economy.
For example, among other assets, the Revolutionary Guard directly controls media outlets, educational
institutions and even gas and oil fields.
In addition, thanks to the reconstruction role it was given after the war with Iraq,
which ended in 1988, the Revolutionary Guard was able to forge close ties with more than
a hundred construction and engineering companies that manage capital of approximately $12 billion.
All these activities and the huge State budget that directly or indirectly passes through
its hands make the IRGC the most powerful organization in Iran.
To give you an idea, an Iranian dissident who was once a co-founder of this sort of
parallel army has described it as follows. Be warned.
("I don't know of any other organization in any country like the Revolutionary Guards.
[...] It's something like the Communist Party, the KGB, a business complex, and the mafia."
– Mohsen Sazegara, founding member of the Revolutionary Guard Corps)
And take note, because in terms of the number of troops, the Revolutionary Guard is on a
par with armies as important as those of France, Germany or the United Kingdom.
Of the 523,000 active military personnel in the Islamic Republic of Iran, 190,000 belong
to the Revolutionary Guard. Of these, between 17,000 and 21,000 make up the elite group
known as the Quds Force.
And that's not the end of it. In addition, the Revolutionary Guard also controls its
own paramilitary group known as the Basij. A religious militia made up of some 600,000
people that the Revolutionary Guard frequently uses to control civil society. For example,
to repress demonstrations or protests.
In fact, it is precisely by using the Basij group that the Iranian regime can commit all
sorts of barbarities such as arbitrarily beating and arresting people without any formal security
forces having to get their hands dirty.
A good example was in 2019, during the massive protests against the Iranian regime:
(Iran's leader ordered crackdown on unrest – 'Do whatever it takes to end it' – Reuters
Khamenei, who has ruled Iran for three decades, turned to his elite forces to put down the
recent unrest – the Revolutionary Guards and its affiliated Basij religious militia.
[...] About 1,500 people were killed during less than two weeks of unrest that started
on Nov. 15. The toll, provided to Reuters by three Iranian interior ministry officials,
included at least 17 teenagers and about 400 women as well as some members of the security
forces and police.)
But... well, there is one question we have to answer: to what extent is it feasible to
have two armies in the same country?
Listen up.
(A GROWING FORCE)
The history of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard
is curious to say the least.
And it is because their rise to power was linked to a military fiasco.
During the war that pitted the Iran of the Ayatollahs against Saddam Hussein's Iraq between
1980 and 1988, the role of the Revolutionary Guard was fundamental.
You see, when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran in September 1980, the Iraqi army was one
of the most advanced professional armies in the world. The Revolutionary Guard, on the
other hand, was at that time a motley militia of poorly trained and poorly armed recruits.
Remember that the Islamic Revolution in Iran had triumphed barely a year earlier, so the
Ayatollah's order to unify, professionalize and equip the militias around the Revolutionary
Guard had not yet materialized.
To make matters worse, the national army was also in a very precarious situation largely
as a result of internal purges and the flight of many officers after the triumph of the
Islamic Revolution.
The result was a disaster. Perhaps not the worst scenario, but a really bad one. The
Iraqi invasion resulted in terrible human damage. Hundreds of thousands of Iranian soldiers
and more than 100,000 civilians died in the conflict.
The point is that no one put more blood and more martyrs on the battlefield than the Revolutionary
Guard and the Basij militia. Something that allowed Ayatollah Khomeini's regime to prove
that what it had at its fingertips was an extremely loyal group.
And loyalty, loyalty is just what you need when you want to consolidate a revolution
and a tyrannical regime. Let's say that the religious authorities at that precise moment
saw it very clearly: they had to have their own praetorian guard.
A well-trained force specialized in all kinds of covert operations.
Something like the iron fist of faith.
So... No sooner said than done. The ayatollahs rewarded these groups with more power, more
means, and more effectiveness.
Thus, while the conventional army has continued to protect the national borders, the ayatollahs
have developed their own shock force.
A force that allows them to extend their influence beyond national borders, to control intelligence,
to combat infiltration of the country by foreign powers and also, if necessary, to defend the
theocratic regime.
Of course, at the end of the day, influence rules. And it is clear that if your superior
is the Ayatollah, then you are in a better position than those who are answering to a
president subordinate to religious power.
The result is that throughout all these years, the Revolutionary Guard is gradually displacing
the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic as the true emblem and reference of national
security.
For example, it is the Revolutionary Guard and not the army that operates most of the
thousands of short- and medium-range missiles that have the capacity to attack the heart
of Israel and that, today, have become the main deterrent force for the country. And
the same could be said about the incorporation of new tanks, armored vehicles and even fighter-bombers.
It is increasingly common for this political-military body to receive the best resources first.
However, their nature and modus operandi remain exactly the same.
(South Korean-flagged tanker seized by Iran, Seoul demands release – Reuters
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps seized a South Korean-flagged tanker in Gulf waters
and detained its crew [...] amid tensions between Tehran and Seoul over Iranian funds
frozen in South Korean banks due to US sanctions.)
By the way, do you want to know how this story ended? Well, after the ship was detained between
January and April 2021, it was finally released by Iran, but they didn't do it for free.
(Iran frees S.Korean ship, captain after promise to help with frozen funds – Reuters
Iran released on Friday a South Korean ship and its captain [...] after South Korea promised
to try to secure the release of Iranian funds frozen in South Korean banks under U.S. sanctions).
Anyway, that is the story of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the curious case of a country with
two armies.
But now it's your turn: do you think that the growing importance of the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard could cause serious friction with the armed forces of the Islamic Republic? What
do you think of this model of one country, two armies?
Leave us your answer below in the comments. And now, if you found this video interesting,
don't forget to like and subscribe to VisualPolitik.
All the best and see you next time.