It has been accused of playing a role in arming Shia militia in Iraq and threatened with being labelled a “terrorist organisation” by the US, but Iran’s Revolutionary Guard – the country’s elite military force – believes that domestic security threats represent a much greater danger to the country than the international crisis surrounding its nuclear programme. Mohammad-Ali Jafari, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, said shortly after he took his new job in September: “The main mission of the guards is currently fighting domestic threats and in case there is a foreign threat we will join the [conventional] army.”To that end he has embarked on a so-called “structural reform” in the guards, part of which is to integrate the Basij Resistance Force – the 12.5m-strong volunteer force which had operated as a separate arm of the Guards – more closely into its operations. Located in 70,000 bases in government organisations, mosques and universities, Basij members, the eyes and ears of the Islamic republic, act as
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The 125,000-strong IRGC consist of land, naval and air forces and two separate arms – the Basij unit and Quds Brigade. The latter is comprised of a few thousand well-trained forces involved in overseas operations. But the backbone of the IRGC is its land force.
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This year, the regime has arrested hundreds of students, feminists, NGO activists, academics, teachers and labourers for taking part in rallies or for allegedly having links with opponents of the regime outside the country. Many have been released but the arrests have created an intimidating atmosphere.
A greater role for the Revolutionary Guard in the Basij has led some to fear a fresh clampdown on internal dissent. Going under the direct command of Mr Jafari will probably include more training on how to monitor and curb domestic unrest.
Iran also faces separatist moves by Kurds, Arabs, Baluchis and to a lesser extent Azeris in border provinces. Iran has accused the US of being behind some ethnic unrest.
| Yup, we done it. Keep checking the New York Times for progress ... |
| There are threats everywhere, even where there are no threats. Have to stay vigilant. Of course this means that the final promises of the glorious revolution to the masses has to be postponed, but that can't be helped ... |
Fundamentalists believe some reformists behave as the fifth column for the enemy inside the country and have to be banned from any political activity, including forthcoming parliamentary elections in March.