On March 6, the seventh day of the U.S.-Israeli struggle on Iran, President Donald Trump demanded the “unconditional give up” of Tehran. “There might be no take care of Iran besides unconditional give up! After that, the collection of nice and acceptable chief(s), we… will… convey Iran again from the brink of destruction…,” Mr. Trump wrote in a social media submit. Quickly after, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a press release that Iran was “absolutely ready for a protracted struggle”. Ever for the reason that struggle broke out, the IRGC, an elite department of Iran’s navy, has emerged as the primary pillar of the nation’s resistance.
Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Nationwide Safety Council, who’s reportedly appearing as a bridge between the armed forces and the political class throughout the struggle, is a former IRGC soldier. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new Supreme Chief, had fought alongside the IRGC throughout the Iran-Iraq struggle and has maintained shut ties with the Guards and their allies throughout West Asia, in line with an official biography. Quickly after Iran selected Mr. Khamenei as the brand new chief on February 8, the IRGC pledged its loyalty him.
Pillar of the system
The IRGC, or Sepah-e-Pasdaran, was one of many earliest revolutionary establishments decreed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the 1979 revolution that introduced down the monarchy of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. One of many primary goals of the Pasdaran was to protect the revolution and the theocratic, constitutional system Khomeini and his followers constructed. The revolutionaries have been cautious of the loyalty of Iran’s common Military that was commanded by royalists till the revolution. They needed a preventing power that was fully loyal to the clergy. So that they went on to construct one. Khomeini described the Guards as “the troopers of Islam”. “Wherever you be, guard yourselves in opposition to the self in you and from all of the Satans round you,” he informed Pasdaran after the group was based.
The Iran-Iraq struggle of 1980-88 reworked Pasdaran into a strong preventing power. The participation of ideologically pushed Guards within the struggle, which led to a ceasefire after each side suffered heavy casualties, laid the bottom for the IRGC to emerge as probably the most influential wing of the state. Right this moment, the IRGC and Iran’s common navy (Artesh) function as two parallel armed wings of the state. Whereas Artesh and the police power are entrusted with defending the nation’s territorial integrity and order at dwelling, Pasdaran’s major duty is the safety of the revolutionary authorities. With a navy wing, an abroad operational unit (Quds Drive) and a civilian voluntary organisation (Basij) at dwelling, the IRGC’s operations overlap with the common service forces. However, beneath the direct command of the Supreme Chief, the Guards have the sources and functionality to affect the route of the international and safety insurance policies of the state greater than any of its different wings.
Loyal Guards
In response to the London-based Worldwide Institute for Strategic Research, the IRGC has some 1,90,000 skilled troopers beneath its command, roughly half the scale of Iran’s common forces. The Guards have an Military, which is unfold throughout Iran’s 31 provinces, an ‘aerospace power’ and a navy. It’s the IRGC navy that patrols Iran’s maritime borders, together with the strategically crucial Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman that opens into the Arabian Sea and to the Indian Ocean.
At dwelling, the Guards have made it clear that they continue to be steadfastly loyal to the clerical institution. They’ve deeply penetrated into completely different establishments of the state and have stood in opposition to reformist politicians previously, particularly Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s President from 1997 to 2005. Overseas, the Guards’ duty is to neutralise the revolution’s enemies and broaden the state’s affect. Its most elite wing maybe is the Quds Drive (Jerusalem Drive), which has been tasked with this responsibility.
Although the Quds Drive was formally established in 1988, Pasdaran, from its early days, had been operational in different elements of West Asia. In the course of the Iran-Iraq struggle, the Guards arrange a devoted intelligence wing referred to as ‘Division 900’ for its abroad operations. The division was later merged into the Particular Exterior Operations Division, and after the struggle, the Quds Drive was fashioned. As its identify suggests, “liberation of Muslim holy locations from occupation” is among the mandates of the Quds Drive. From its inception, the IRGC has devoted sources and power to construct Shia networks throughout West Asia. An Islamic Resistance group was based in Lebanon after the Israeli invasion of the nation in 1982, which later grew to become Hezbollah.
Axis of resistance
The Quds Drive rose to prominence beneath Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who commanded the power from 1998 till his assassination by the U.S. in 2020. When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, the IRGC helped span Shia resistance in opposition to the occupying troops, which resulted within the deaths of lots of of American troopers in Iraq. When the Syrian civil struggle broke out, the Guards instantly dispatched their troops to Syria, first beneath the pretext of defending Shia holy websites within the nation, after which to struggle the regime’s enemies. The Guards, together with the Russians and Hezbollah, performed a crucial position in turning across the civil struggle in favour of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Assad’s regime would collapse in December 2024, within the midst of a regional struggle Israel was preventing in opposition to all of Iran’s allies in West Asia.
Iran’s allies are broadly referred to as the ‘axis of resistance’ — Hamas and Islamic Jihad within the Palestinian territories; Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and varied Shia mobilisation brigades in Iraq and Syria. Iran additionally backs a Shia militant opposition motion in Bahrain. And if the axis has a command centre, it’s the IRGC. The U.S. has designated the IRGC as a terrorist entity.
When the Guards have a look at the area, they see an Iran surrounded by rivals — throughout the Gulf, there are Sunni monarchies, American allies who host American bases; Syria, which was Iran’s solely state ally within the area, is right this moment dominated by a former al-Qaeda jihadist; on the borders of Lebanon, there may be Israel, the ‘Little Devil’; and the U.S., ‘the Nice Devil’, has 1000’s of troops and superior weapons in a number of bases unfold throughout West Asia. Past the Gulf waters, American warships and plane carriers are shifting freely. The axis has been weakened in recent times, after Israel expanded its October 7 struggle in opposition to Iran’s allies. In June 2025, six months after the Assad regime fell in Syria, Israel bombed Iran, triggering a 12-day struggle. Nevertheless it was solely the start.
The Iranians knew a wider struggle was coming. On February 28, the U.S. and Israel launched broad strikes in opposition to Iran, killing Supreme Chief Ali Khamenei and a number of other others. For the IRGC, it was the fulfilment of a prophesy — an existential disaster. And they’re preventing again with the whole lot they’ve.
Printed – March 10, 2026 04:22 pm IST
