What is Iran’s Revolutionary Guard? Role, history and growing regional influence
That power has come under renewed scrutiny as Iran expands its attacks into the Middle East following the start of the US-Israeli airstrike campaign that killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Here’s what you need to know about the Guardian. Born from a revolution
The Guard rose out of Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution as a force aimed at protecting the country’s government overseen by Shiite clerics, and was later included in the constitution. It operated in parallel with Iran’s regular armed forces and grew in importance and power during the long and devastating war with Iraq in the 1980s.
Although it was in danger of possible disintegration after the war, Khamenei allowed the power to flourish by giving it authority to expand into private enterprise.
The Guard runs a massive construction company called Khatam al-Anbia and also owns firms that build roads, human ports, operate telecommunications networks and even offer laser eye surgery. Foreign operations are important for the Guard
The Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force played a key role in creating what Iran describes as the “Axis of Resistance” against Israel and the United States. It has supported former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, Yemen’s Houthi rebels and other groups in the region that grew stronger after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq. U.S. officials say the Guard is teaching Iraqi militants how to create and use particularly deadly roadside bombs against U.S. troops there. Iranian intelligence agencies, as well as the Quds Force, are believed to have hired criminal gangs and others to target dissidents and Iran’s perceived enemies abroad.
Since the last Israel-Hamas war, Israel has detained citizens it accuses of receiving orders from Iran to spy on or vandalize targets. Iran has denied involvement in these plots. The Guard is also believed to be heavily involved in smuggling in the Middle East. The Guard’s intelligence arm has been linked to the detention of foreigners
The Guard also runs its own intelligence services and has been behind a series of arrests and convictions of dual nationals and those with Western connections on espionage charges in closed trials.
Western countries and others have stated that Iran uses these prisoners as bargaining chips, especially in negotiations regarding its nuclear program. War with Israel puts new pressure on Guard
The Guard’s carefully constructed “Axis of Resistance” faced its greatest challenge following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza. The Palestinian militant group Hamas is also among the groups supported by Iran. Israel is still fighting Hamas in Gaza, even though it has targeted other Iran-backed groups, destroyed Hezbollah, and repeatedly targeted the Houthis in Yemen.
In Syria, Assad’s government fell in December 2024, robbing Tehran and the Guard of an important ally. Israel and Iran exchanged missile fire, something overseen by the Guard.
In June, Israel launched a major airstrike targeting Iran. On its first day, these attacks killed top generals in the Guard, throwing the force into disarray. Israeli strikes also destroyed ballistic missile sites and launchers, as well as air defense systems manning the Guard. Crackdown on recent protests
One of the main ways the theocracy in Iran can suppress demonstrations is through the Basij, the all-volunteer arm of the Guard.
Images of the protests that started on December 28 show Basij members carrying long guns, batons and pellet guns. His forces were seen beating protesters and chasing them through the streets. A prominent Basij commander even appeared on state television to warn parents to keep their children at home and called on members of the force to rally to quell the demonstrations.
In January, the European Union listed the Guard as a terrorist organization over Tehran’s bloody crackdown on protests.Now it comes down to who controls the Guardians?
Iran’s foreign minister has claimed his country’s military units operate independently of any central government control, after being pressured over attacks on Gulf Arab states that have acted as intermediaries for Tehran in the past.
There have been attacks on Oman, which has already mediated the latest nuclear talks with the United States, and on Qatar, which is also negotiating with Tehran and shares a large offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf with the Islamic Republic.
“What happened in Oman was not our choice. We had already told our army, our armed forces, to be careful about the targets they choose,” Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera on March 1. “In fact, you know, our military units are now actually independent and somewhat isolated and they’re operating according to instructions – you know, general instructions – that they’ve been given in advance.”
Militaries around the world are doing contingency planning for wars, including what to do if their central governments are affected. But Iran is a special case, given that the Guard controls its vast ballistic missile arsenal and most of its stockpile of bomb-carrying drones.
Araghchi’s comments could also serve as a pretext for attacks to try to ease tensions with Iran’s Gulf Arab neighbors, who have become increasingly angry at the constant fire targeting them despite efforts to reduce tensions in recent years.
