What, then, is the IRGC, and what role does its Quds Force fulfill in Iran’s assertive regional foreign policy? Today, the IRGC boasts a parallel army, air force, navy, as well as a special unit, the Quds Force. In its name, the IRGC is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah-e-Pasdaran-e-Enqelab-e-Islami) rather than the “Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps”. The Quds Force and proxy groupsEstablished in 1988, the Quds Force was commanded by Qassem Soleimani between 1998 and 2020, inextricably tying him with the Force’s evolution. Pg 102.iv Kasra Aarabi, Beyond Borders: The Expansionist Ideology of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, London, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, 2020, https://institute.global/policy/beyond-borders-expansionist-ideology-irans-islamic-revolutionary-guard-corps, p. 33.v “Beyond Borders: The Expansionist Ideology of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps”, p. 27.vi Article 154 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Iran of 1979, with amendments through 1989.vii Vanguard of the Imam.

Source: Wall Street Journal February 08, 2024 11:06 UTC