Although the West and especially the U.S. had earlier experienced the IRGC’s power during the formation of Hashd al-Shaabi and protecting Iraqi and Syrian governments especially its brotherly tie with President Bashar Assad, merited son of Hafez Assad, they did not bat an eyelid.

IRAN NEWS POLITICAL DESK

During the confiscation of British oil tanker due to violation of maritime regulations and somehow, due to the pinned condition of the U.S. and UK, and incapability of their elements in our land Iran and Islamic establishment, American bimonthly international affairs magazine “National Interest” by publishing an analysis on the current condition, wrote: “Earlier this year, the White House took the unprecedented step of designating the IRGC as an organization that “actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft.” It was an IRGC fast attack craft that almost sparked open military conflict between the U.S. and Iran in June by shooting down of the U.S. advanced drone.

The IRGC continues to comprise a substantial part of the Iranian armed forces, but their influence—both within Iran and across the Middle-East region—extends far beyond raw combat capabilities. To understand the full extent of IRGC’s current role within the Iranian military, we must go back to back to the birth of the Iranian Islamic Republic.

The IRGC was founded in the aftermath of the 1979 Iranian revolution. The IRGC was conceived as a “people’s army” meant to safeguard the ideals of the revolution against internal opposition. With its original purpose fulfilled, IRGC seized on the ongoing Iran-Iraq war as an opportunity to rebrand itself as a major regional player. Its operations gradually expanded to include naval, air force, paramilitary, special forces, and cyberwarfare roles, and actually it became a multifunctional and undefeatable force.

Regarding these capabilities and power, many political experts believe that U.S. President Donald Trump in his official and inexplicit war with Iran has implicitly admitted that he can’t hold a candle to the IRGC.

Belying the IRGC’s broad mandate is a generally well-defined division of labor between the Guards and Iran’s conventional military forces. For instance: the Iranian Air Force (IRIAF) operates all of Iran’s jet fighters, while the IRGC’s own air force branch controls most of the ballistic missiles. The IRGC wields what is arguably the most destructive weapon in Iran’s military system: the Quds Force, an elite unconventional warfare unit that spearheads Iranian military and intelligence operations across the Middle East.

Fortunately today and due to the endeavors and supports of founders of the IRGC, Iran is no slouch in raw military power, boasting the world’s top strongest army by the GlobalFirepower ranking system.

IRGC with its aptitude for asymmetric and unconventional warfare and also measures for rapid reaction attacks is considered now as one of the most powerful and technical forces of the Islamic Revolution of Iran, and according to the National Interest, the IRGC with these huge potentials has turned into a nightmare for the U.S. and especially for Trump on the threshold of the U.S. presidential election.

That sometimes some American commanders of officials negligently talk about the IRGC’s power maneuver is a clear evidence that we can say this IRGC has spoiled sleep of the Western leaders and especially Trump and his allies.

By: Hamid Reza Naghashian