The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is a powerful, multi-service military institution in Iran, established as a parallel force to the country's regular army, the Artesh. It was founded on May 5, 1979, by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, following the Islamic Revolution. The IRGC was created to serve as the principal defender of the new clerical regime and its ideology, acting as a loyal counterweight to the traditional armed forces, which were distrusted due to their loyalty to the former Shah.
The IRGC is a combined arms force with its own Ground Forces, Navy, and Aerospace Force, and is officially recognized as a component of the Iranian military under Article 150 of the Iranian Constitution. It reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, bypassing the elected president. Its mechanism of operation involves both internal security and external power projection. For domestic control, it commands the Basij (Mobilization Resistance Force), a paramilitary volunteer militia used to enforce the regime's social code and suppress internal dissent. For foreign operations, it oversees the Quds Force (IRGC-QF), an elite expeditionary arm specializing in unconventional warfare and clandestine activities.
The IRGC connects to a network of regional proxy groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories, which the Quds Force trains, arms, and directs to project Iran's influence and challenge Western and Israeli interests. A significant recent change occurred in April 2019, when the United States designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). More recently, in January 2026, the European Union also condemned the group and designated it a terrorist organization following its reported role in suppressing mass protests.