Source:GlobalSecurity
The Pasdaran has maintained an intelligence branch to monitor the regime's domestic adversaries and to participate in their arrests and trials. The Baseej (volunteers) come under the control of the Revolutionary Guards. The Baseej allegedly also monitor the activities of citizens, and harass or arrest women whose clothing does not cover the hair and all of the body except hands and face, or those who wear makeup.
During the year ending in June 1995, they reportedly "notified 907,246 people verbally and issued 370,079 written notices against ‘social corruption’ and arrested 86,190 people, and also broke up 542 ‘corrupt gangs’, arresting their 2,618 members, and seized 86,597 ‘indecent’ videocassettes and photographs.
The Ashura Brigades force was reportedly created in 1993 after anti-government riots erupted in various Iranian cities and it consists of 17,000 Islamic militia men and women. The Ashura Brigades are reportedly composed of elements of the Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran) and the Baseej volunteer militia.
In August 1994, some Pasdaran units, rushed to quell riots in the city of Ghazvin, 150 km. west of Tehran, reportedly refused orders from the Interior Minister to intervene in the clashes, which left more than 30 people dead, 400 wounded and over 1,000 arrested.
Subsequently, senior officers in the army, air force and the usually loyal Islamic Revolutionary Guard reportedly stated that they would no longer order their troops into battle to quell civil disorder.
The foreign operations by the Guardians, which also encompass the activities of Hizballah and Islamic Jihad – are usually carried out through the Committee on Foreign Intelligence Abroad and the Committee on Implementation of Actions Abroad. The Qods (Jerusalem) Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is responsible for extraterritorial operations, including terrorist operations. A primary focus for the Qods Force is training Islamic fundamentalist terrorist groups.
Currently, the Qods Force conducts training activities in Iran and in Sudan. The Qods Force is also responsible for gathering information required for targeting and attack planning. The Pasdaran has contacts with underground movements in the Gulf region, and Pasdaran members are assigned to Iranian diplomatic missions, where, in the course of routine intelligence activities they monitor dissidents. Pasdaran influence has been particularly important in Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.
The largest branch of Pasdaran foreign operations consists of approximately 12,000 Arabic speaking Iranians, Afghans, Iraqis, Lebanese shi’ites and North Africans who trained in Iran or received training in Afghanistan during the Afghan war years. Presently these foreign operatives receive training in Iran, Sudan and Lebanon, and include the Hizballah ["Party of Allah"] intelligence, logistics and operational units in Lebanon.
The second largest Pasdaran foreign operations relates to the Kurds (particularly Iraqi Kurds), while the third largest relates to the Kashmiri’s, the Balouchi’s and the Afghans.
The Pasdaran has also supported the establishment of Hizballah branches in Lebanon, Iraqi Kurdistan, Jordan and Palestine, and the Islamic Jihad in many other Moslem countries including Egypt, Turkey, Chechnya and in Caucasia.
The Office of Liberation Movements has established a Gulf Section tasked with forming a Gulf Battalion as part of the Jerusalem Forces. In April 1995 a number of international organizations linked to international terrorism -- including the Japanese Red Army, the Armenian Secret Army, and the Kurdistan Workers' Party -- were reported to have met in Beirut with representatives of the Iraqi Da'wah Party, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, Hizballah, Iran's "Office of Liberation Movements," and Iran's Guardians of the Revolution.
In January of 2002 - Israeli forces seized a Tonga-registered vessel, and found onboard 83 canisters - which were hidden in crates and among other cargo - and filled with 50 tons of weapons - including surface-to-air missiles and anti-tank mines. Intelligence reports indicate the likely involvement of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in facilitating this large arms transfer to other terrorist groups.
Although Iran detained al-Qaida operatives in 2003, it refused to identify senior members in custody. Tehran continued to encourage anti-Israel activities, both operationally and rhetorically, providing logistic support and training to Lebanese Hizballah and a variety of Palestinian rejectionist groups.
Shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein, individuals with ties to the Revolutionary Guard may have attempted to infiltrate southern Iraq, and elements of the Iranian Government have helped members of Ansar al-Islam transit and find safehaven in Iran. In a Friday Prayers sermon in Tehran in May 2003, Guardian Council member Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati publicly encouraged Iraqis to follow the Palestinian model and participate in suicide operations against Coalition forces.
Anonymous sources in the Israeli defense establishment said that Iranian involvement in terrorism in the occupied territories has increased. These activities mostly are run through Hizballah in Lebanon and, between 2002 and 2004 Hizballah had tripled or even quadrupled the scope of its operations in the territories. The threat to Israel from rockets provided to Hizballah by Iran and Syria has grown, both in range and quantity.
Also See SPECIAL AND IRREGULAR ARMED FORCES in IRAN - A Country Study (Library of Congress Federal Research Division)
Friday, 26 October 2007
Knowledge: Who Are Al Qods And The Baseej?
Knowledge: Who Are The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp?
Source:GlobalSecurity
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or Pasdaran was formed following the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in an effort to consolidate several paramilitary forces into a single force loyal to the new regime and to function as a counter to the influence and power of the regular military.
The 125,000 strong Revolutionary Guard secures the revolutionary regime and provides training support to terrorist groups throughout the region and abroad. Both the regular military [the Artesh] and IRGC are subordinate to the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).
Although the IRGC operates independently of the regular armed forces, it is often considered to be a military force in its own right due to its important role in Iranian defense. The IRGC consists of ground, naval, and aviation troops which parallel the structure of the regular military. From the beginning of the new Islamic regime, the Pasdaran (Pasdaran-e Enghelab-e Islami, or Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or Revolutionary Guards) functioned as a corps of the faithful. Its role in national security evolved from securing the regime and eliminating opposition forces to becoming a branch of the military establishment.
As a means of countering the threat posed by either the leftist guerrillas or the officers suspected of continued loyalty to the shah, however, Khomeini created the Pasdaran, designated as the guardians of the Revolution.
History
Initially the Pasdaran was planned as an organization that would be directly subordinate to the ruling clerics of the Revolution. By September 1980, the Pasdaran was capable of deploying forces at the front. Initially, the forces were sent to conduct operations against Kurdish rebels, but before long they were deployed alongside regular armed forces units to conduct conventional military operations. Despite differences, the Pasdaran and the regular armed forces have cooperated on military matters.
Since 1979 the Pasdaran has undergone fundamental changes in mission and function. Some of these changes reflected the control of the Islamic Republican Party (IRP) (until its abolition in 1987) over both the Pasdaran and the Crusade for Reconstruction. Others reflected the IRP's exclusive reliance on the Pasdaran to carry out certain sensitive missions. The Pasdaran, with its own separate ministry until 1989, evolved into one of the most powerful organizations in Iran. Not only did it function as an intelligence organization, both within and outside the country, but it also exerted considerable influence on government policies. In addition to its initial political strength, in the course of several years the Pasdaran also became a powerful military instrument for defending the Revolution and Islamic Iran.
The Pasdaran was also given the mandate of organizing a large people's militia, the Basij, in 1980. It is from Basij ranks that volunteers were drawn to launch "human wave" attacks against the Iraqis, particularly around Basra.
The first operations commander of the Pasdaran was Abbas Zamani (Abu Sharif), a former teacher from Tehran. The Pasdaran was quite active in Lebanon. By the summer of 1982, shortly after the second Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the Pasdaran had nearly 1,000 personnel deployed in the predominantly Shia Biqa Valley. The Pasdaran's alleged involvement in anti-American terrorism in Lebanon remained difficult to confirm.
From modest beginnings, the Pasdaran became a formidable force. Under the command of Mohsen Rezai, the Pasdaran became large enough to match the strength of the regular military. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, in 1986 the Pasdaran consisted of 350,000 personnel organized in battalion-size units that operated either independently or with units of the regular armed forces. In 1986 the Pasdaran acquired small naval and air elements, and it has claimed responsibility for hit-and-run raids on shipping in the Persian Gulf.
Although little was known about the Ministry of the Pasdaran, its intelligence-gathering operations, and its relationship with SAVAMA, several reports speculated that the Pasdaran maintained an intelligence branch to spy on the regime's adversaries and to participate in their arrests and trials. Khomeini implied Pasdaran involvement in intelligence when he congratulated the Pasdaran on the arrest of Iranian communist Tudeh leaders
With the abolition of the IRP in 1987, observers were uncertain whether the Pasdaran would continue to enjoy unlimited support from high-ranking clerics. Its power base remained strong in 1987, with the continuing support of Khomeini and other religious authorities. Having eliminated armed leftist groups such as the Mojahedin and the Fadayan, the Pasdaran had fulfilled all IRP expectations .Staunchly religious, nationalistic, and battle-trained since 1980, the Pasdaran had emerged as a critical force in determining Iran's national security strategy. In a post-Khomeini era, the Pasdaran could wield enormous power to approve or disapprove governmental changes.
The IRGC's active involvement in domestic politics began following Ayatollah Khomeini's death in 1989. Using the experience it gained in carrying out large projects during the war with Iraq, the corps has become a force in Iran's economy by launching numerous companies. Many of these enterprises receive lucrative government contracts and are active in the agriculture and oil sectors, on road and dam construction, and in automobile manufacturing. In addition, former IRGC commanders run the Oppressed and Disabled Foundation, an extremely powerful and wealthy organization that takes care of underprivileged Iranians.
In the 1990s some IRGC commanders denounced then-President Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani's political, social, and economic reforms as damaging to the values of the revolution. Following the 1999 student riots, some hard-line elements of the IRGC warned Khatami that his reforms were endangering the revolutionary order and that the IRGC could not stand by and watches as the fruits of the revolution were destroyed. As a result, these IRGC officers said, they essentially had no alternative than to intervene to uphold the interests of the Islamic regime. In a letter to Khatami, 24 IRGC commanders stated that they would take the law into their own hands unless the president cracked down on demonstrators.
By 2005 the IRGC's long reach into political affairs was increasingly apparent. Iran's parliament included about 80 former IRGC members, while other former members command the regular army and the national police. Still more occupy important civilian and government positions, such as municipal councilors, mayors, provincial governors, university professors, and businessmen. And possibly most significant, none other than the country's new president -- Mahmud Ahmadinejad -- served with the IRGC during the Iran-Iraq War.
In many respects that structure of the Pasderan has similarities to other Para-military organisations throughout history with its encroachment into the nation. It serves in a similar manner as the KGB in the Soviet Union and the SS Nazi Germany-having the characteristics of a state within a state.
Comment:US & Iran-The Ticking Time Bomb
Source:FAS and BBC Middle East
“Iran has responded defiantly to new sanctions imposed by the US targeting Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps and three state-owned banks.”
The BBC in it ‘analysis’ regards the latest bout of US diplomatic pressure on the Iran as another step towards war.
In its article the BBC seems to regard the latest moves by the US administration as ‘hostile’ devoting much of its piece towards the Iranian response. According to The BBC correspondent in Tehran, Jon Leyne, says the sanctions could be very damaging for Iran economically. The Revolutionary Guards are thought to control around a third of the country's economy, including car factories, newspapers and oil and gas fields.
Indeed they may well do but it will also strengthen the IRGC control over the Government.
This 'anti-war' and 'anti-American' view is echoed by the “commentary” on HYS-the BBC’s own interactive website mainly by the increasingly anti-American British
“On the day that Bush asks the world to help overthrow Communism in Cuba (again), and sanctions are announced against Iran for - just maybe, possibly - wanting to acquire 3 or 4 of what Israel's got 200+ of, and the USA's got 7000+ of, perhaps it's time for the rest of the World to just stop listening to arrant hypocrisy disguised as righteousness”
“Iran has caused the deaths of many USA and UK soldiers in Iraq.
Paul Butler, Reading, United Kingdom
Where is the proof? Are you going to start thinking for yourself and making your own judgment, or simply echo the un-proven assumptions coming from War loving generals and politicians for yet another disaster in the region (which by the way, this time, its going to be the real cause of death of thousands of US/UK soldiers)? I say we have caused enough misery for that region, lets get out!!”
Such ‘populist’ opinion (at the moment) seems to be missing some obvious points-as those more familiar with Iran will understand. The fact Iran is not hiding its ambitions and could be in a period known as a ‘transition to war’:
-The IRGC has now being purged of all ‘suspect elements’ and is now taking the leading edge in ‘strengthening’ Iranian defences.
-The capture of Al Quds personnel by Iraqi, British, American security forces in the last year.
-The recent display of Shehab-3 (Range 1280 KM/800 Miles) confirms that Iran has now significant Ballistic Missile capability. Western analysis also believes the Shehab-5 and Shehab-6 (based on North Korea’s Taep'o-dong-2 Range: 4,000-4,300 Km) may also be on-line although there is no firm information yet.
Shehab3 and 3b SLBM on recent display in Tehran (Source:FAS)
-The recent crackdown on ‘pro-Western’ and ‘anti-social elements’ within Iraq by Baseej Security Forces.
-The rationing of petrol and other non-essential materials
-The provocation by the IRGC during the ‘Frightened 15’ episode.
-The continuing non compliance with the IAEA inspections.
-The 10 day ‘Great Prophet’ Exercise in November 2006 with test launches of SLBM's
Objectively Iran is preparing for some sort of military confrontation, either with Israel or the Western Alliance. The one calculation that seems to be overlooked is the Iran is well aware of the political and psychological problems within the West’s key players-the US and the UK.
The US is currently starting its electoral process with Democrats and Republicans neither wishing to get involved further in a military confrontation with all the uncertainty that goes with that. Further more the Bush Administration is winding down and has used it’s up its political capital on Iraq and Afghanistan.
The British Government is in a period of flux,with Brown in a weak position,and with the self inflicted wound of Intelligence Debarcle, coupled with the prevalent anti-American mood by some sections of the public and media has left the UK in no mood for more military activity.It hasn’t got the military or political capital to do so although British Forces in theatre are directly threatened.
Israel is still licking its wounds after it apparent ‘defeat’ by Hezbollah and only France seems to be moving in the direction of a more robust position.
The IRGC will be more than aware of this-it is possible that there may well be a dramatic escalation during the Presidential Race. It cannot also be discounted that the recent attacks by the PKK may well involve Al Qods forces providing logistic and intelligence support, Turkey being a main ally of Isreal in the region.
The irony is that it may not be President Bush who needs to confront the final showdown that started with 9/11-but the very critics who have been grandstanding. Let’s hope they have a policy to deal with it or the Middle East will be very quite for the next 500 years.
Source:FAS