Welcome to an excerpt of Empire of Terror, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, written by Mark Silinsky and published by Potomac Books, an imprint of the University of Nebraska Press. This is presented by Kensington Security Consulting, which brings education to national security. This excerpt comes from chapter three and explores the creation of the Guards.
The real war is a cultural war. . . . There are so many television and internet networks that are busy diverting the hearts and minds of our youth away from religion, our sacred beliefs, morality, modesty, and the like. —Ali Khamenei, 2017
The shah was long gone, and the revolution was shaping a new government and society. The Guards were feverishly expanding into a protective force unlike anything that existed in Iran’s history. Its ranks would swell to a size many times the size of Savak’s, and the Guards would become far more murderous than were the Shah’s security services. In 1979, Khomeini needed to create an organizational structure and staff it with ideologically committed cadres. Soon, the Guards would be deployed at home and abroad to kill and imprison opponents. Show trials would jolt Iran, and fear would grip many political and religious circles.
The Creation of the Guards
In March 1979, the new regime abolished the hereditary monarchy and created a new position of national religious leader. This secured Ayatollah Khomeini's position for life and made him the supreme commander of the armed forces and the leader of the Guards. He had the power to declare war and dismiss the president.1 Khomeini’s prestige, burnished by victory, had never been higher. In effect, he became a dictator.2 Just as Emperor Augustus, at the height of Roman power, created a Praetorian force of talented loyalists, Khomeini founded the Guards on May 5, 1979, to protect his rule.3 At the time, Khomeini announced that the Guards would be built to “guard the revolution and its achievements.”
Ali Khamenei, the future supreme leader, helped establish the Guards.5 He was part of the inner circle of leaders, many of whom had bunked together in dank prisons or built camaraderie while residing in Najaf to dodge the reach of Savak.6 In the late 1970s, they became the power nucleus that shaped the revolution.7 Many principals remembered Operation Ajax, the CIA-led coup against Mossadegh, and were convinced that Western forces would attempt to crush the revolution and return the Shah to power. A robust guard force would prevent that.
Parliament issued the Statute of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in September 1982, to enshrine Khomeinist principles in law. This statute gave the Guards broad latitude to recruit, train, staff, and function. It also enabled them to partner with Iranian military services to pursue common goals.8 From its inception, there were bureaucratic brawls over lines of responsibility and authority between the Guards and the armed forces.
Periodically, the Guards aligned with the army. At other times, the two organizations competed for resources. Both had distinct responsibilities. Article 143 of the Iranian Constitution states that “the Army of the Islamic Republic of Iran is responsible for guarding the independence and territorial integrity of the country, as well as the order of the Islamic Republic.” Article 2 of the Constitution’s second chapter grants the Guards a primary counterintelligence function. Article 147 of the Constitution granted the Guards access to large sectors of the economy, and today the Guards dominate many vital sectors, including energy, construction, telecommunications, and finance. From the outset of the Islamic Revolution, the Iranian army was subject to far greater civilian control than the Guards. However, some early Iranian leaders feared a growing concentration of power in a single organization.
Prime Minister Mehdi Bazargan, who presided over the first postrevolutionary transitional government, warned of an “imminent danger” posed by the Guards’ political intervention. He failed to persuade Khomeini, and the Guards removed Bazargan from power. The student seizure of American hostages in 1979 galvanized Iran’s radicals and weakened the vestigial influence of moderates. Ali Khamenei assumed the presidency in 1981, and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who became president in 1989, feared the Guards’ inherent volatility. For this reason, they sought to professionalize the corps. The Guards held a higher status than the armed forces because they protected the nation, the revolution, and its leaders. The Guards built their own theological seminaries, such as the Martyr Mahallati University, to indoctrinate officers.
This concludes the reading from the introduction of Empire of Terror, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, written by Mark Silinsky. If you enjoyed this reading, please consider subscribing. This reading does not represent the official position of any agency or individual within the United States government. On behalf of Kensington Security Consulting, thank you for listening.
