Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
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The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, founded after the Iranian Revolution on 22 April 1979 by order of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Whereas the Iranian Army defends Iranian borders and maintains internal order, according to the Iranian constitution, the Revolutionary Guard (pasdaran) is intended to protect the country's Islamic republic political system.[1] The Revolutionary Guards state that their role in protecting the Islamic system is preventing foreign interference as well as coups by the military or "deviant movements".[2]
Personnel
The Revolutionary Guards have roughly 125,000 military personnel including ground, aerospace and naval forces. Its naval forces are now the primary forces tasked with operational control of the Persian Gulf.[3] Its media arm is Sepah News.[4]
Since its origin as an ideologically driven militia, the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution has taken a greater role in nearly every aspect of Iranian society. Its expanded social, political, military and economic role under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration - especially during the 2009 presidential election and post-election suppression of protest - has led many Western analysts to argue that its political power has surpassed even that of the country's Shia clerical system.[5][6][7]
The Chief Commander of the Guardians since 2019 was Hossein Salami. who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in June 2025.[8]
Designated as terrorist
The IRGC is designated as a terrorist organisation by the governments of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United States.[9][10]
Proscribed in the UK
In mid 2026 the UK made it illegal to support the IRGC, which also extends to reporting on and expressing opinion about it, via the National Security (State Threats) Act 2026. Violations can draw an up to 14-year prison sentence. donotpanic.news notes:
“It will mean journalists stop quoting the IRGC in their stories or reproducing press releases they publish. The effect, however, will be broader than this. To avoid falling foul of the law and facing prosecution, over-compliance is likely. Journalists will simply stop reporting anything said by official Iranian government figures, for fear of falling foul of the clause prohibiting information from the IRGC being shared.
And the effect is likely to be felt even beyond the UK.
Any journalist in the world who plans on visiting the UK will likely avoid quoting Iranian government officials for the same reason, in case they get arrested on landing in the country.
In the future, there won’t even be a fig leaf of balance to mainstream articles about Iran. Every article about conflict between Iran and the west will be self-censored, and people’s understanding of events, let alone the imperial contours of the world, will erode further. Which is, of course, the point.”
Nate Bear (Jul 14, 2026) [11]
References
- ↑ "Profile: Iran's Revolutionary Guards"
- ↑ "The birth of a new class – Focus"
- ↑ "The Consequences of a Strike on Iran: The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy"
- ↑ "Picture imperfect"
- ↑ "Arrests at new Iranian protests"
- ↑ "Crisis as Opportunity for the IRGC"
- ↑ "The Rise of the Iranian Dictatorship"
- ↑ "Iran’s Supreme Leader Replaces Head of Revolutionary Guards"
- ↑ "Trump designates elite Iranian military force as a terrorist organisation"
- ↑ "Saudi, Bahrain add Iran's IRGC to terror lists - SPA"
- ↑ https://www.donotpanic.news/p/soon-it-will-be-illegal-to-oppose
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