On March 6, the seventh day of the U.S.-Israeli conflict on Iran, President Donald Trump demanded the “unconditional give up” of Tehran. “There shall be no take care of Iran besides unconditional give up! After that, the number of nice and acceptable chief(s), we… will… convey Iran again from the brink of destruction…,” Mr. Trump wrote in a social media submit. Quickly after, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a press release that Iran was “totally ready for a protracted conflict”. Ever because the conflict broke out, the IRGC, an elite department of Iran’s navy, has emerged as the primary pillar of the nation’s resistance.
Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran’s Nationwide Safety Council, who’s reportedly appearing as a bridge between the armed forces and the political class through the conflict, is a former IRGC soldier. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran’s new Supreme Chief, had fought alongside the IRGC through the Iran-Iraq conflict and has maintained shut ties with the Guards and their allies throughout West Asia, in response to an official biography. Quickly after Iran selected Mr. Khamenei as the brand new chief on February 8, the IRGC pledged its loyalty him.
Pillar of the system
The IRGC, or Sepah-e-Pasdaran, was one of many earliest revolutionary establishments decreed by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the 1979 revolution that introduced down the monarchy of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. One of many primary targets of the Pasdaran was to protect the revolution and the theocratic, constitutional system Khomeini and his followers constructed. The revolutionaries have been cautious of the loyalty of Iran’s common Military that was commanded by royalists till the revolution. They needed a combating drive that was fully loyal to the clergy. In order that they went on to construct one. Khomeini described the Guards as “the troopers of Islam”. “Wherever you be, guard yourselves towards the self in you and from all of the Satans round you,” he advised Pasdaran after the group was based.
The Iran-Iraq conflict of 1980-88 remodeled Pasdaran into a strong combating drive. The participation of ideologically pushed Guards within the conflict, which resulted in a ceasefire after either side suffered heavy casualties, laid the bottom for the IRGC to emerge as probably the most influential wing of the state. As we speak, the IRGC and Iran’s common navy (Artesh) function as two parallel armed wings of the state. Whereas Artesh and the police drive are entrusted with defending the nation’s territorial integrity and order at dwelling, Pasdaran’s major duty is the safety of the revolutionary authorities. With a navy wing, an abroad operational unit (Quds Drive) and a civilian voluntary organisation (Basij) at dwelling, the IRGC’s operations overlap with the common service forces. However, below the direct command of the Supreme Chief, the Guards have the sources and functionality to affect the course of the overseas and safety insurance policies of the state greater than any of its different wings.
Loyal Guards
In response to the London-based Worldwide Institute for Strategic Research, the IRGC has some 1,90,000 skilled troopers below its command, roughly half the dimensions of Iran’s common forces. The Guards have an Military, which is unfold throughout Iran’s 31 provinces, an ‘aerospace drive’ and a navy. It’s the IRGC navy that patrols Iran’s maritime borders, together with the strategically important Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman that opens into the Arabian Sea and to the Indian Ocean.
At dwelling, the Guards have made it clear that they continue to be steadfastly loyal to the clerical institution. They’ve deeply penetrated into completely different establishments of the state and have stood towards reformist politicians up to now, particularly Mohammad Khatami, Iran’s President from 1997 to 2005. Overseas, the Guards’ duty is to neutralise the revolution’s enemies and increase the state’s affect. Its most elite wing maybe is the Quds Drive (Jerusalem Drive), which has been tasked with this responsibility.
Although the Quds Drive was formally established in 1988, Pasdaran, from its early days, had been operational in different components of West Asia. Through the Iran-Iraq conflict, the Guards arrange a devoted intelligence wing referred to as ‘Division 900’ for its abroad operations. The division was later merged into the Particular Exterior Operations Division, and after the conflict, the Quds Drive was shaped. As its title suggests, “liberation of Muslim holy locations from occupation” is without doubt one of the mandates of the Quds Drive. From its inception, the IRGC has devoted sources and power to construct Shia networks throughout West Asia. An Islamic Resistance group was based in Lebanon after the Israeli invasion of the nation in 1982, which later turned Hezbollah.
Axis of resistance
The Quds Drive rose to prominence below Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who commanded the drive from 1998 till his assassination by the U.S. in 2020. When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, the IRGC helped span Shia resistance towards the occupying troops, which resulted within the deaths of a whole lot of American troopers in Iraq. When the Syrian civil conflict broke out, the Guards instantly dispatched their troops to Syria, first below the pretext of defending Shia holy websites within the nation, after which to battle the regime’s enemies. The Guards, together with the Russians and Hezbollah, performed a important function in turning across the civil conflict in favour of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Mr. Assad’s regime would collapse in December 2024, within the midst of a regional conflict Israel was combating towards all of Iran’s allies in West Asia.
Iran’s allies are broadly referred to as the ‘axis of resistance’ — Hamas and Islamic Jihad within the Palestinian territories; Houthis in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and varied Shia mobilisation brigades in Iraq and Syria. Iran additionally backs a Shia militant opposition motion in Bahrain. And if the axis has a command centre, it’s the IRGC. The U.S. has designated the IRGC as a terrorist entity.
When the Guards have a look at the area, they see an Iran surrounded by rivals — throughout the Gulf, there are Sunni monarchies, American allies who host American bases; Syria, which was once Iran’s solely state ally within the area, is as we speak dominated by a former al-Qaeda jihadist; on the borders of Lebanon, there’s Israel, the ‘Little Devil’; and the U.S., ‘the Nice Devil’, has hundreds of troops and superior weapons in a number of bases unfold throughout West Asia. Past the Gulf waters, American warships and plane carriers are transferring freely. The axis has been weakened in recent times, after Israel expanded its October 7 conflict towards Iran’s allies. In June 2025, six months after the Assad regime fell in Syria, Israel bombed Iran, triggering a 12-day conflict. Nevertheless it was solely the start.
The Iranians knew a wider conflict was coming. On February 28, the U.S. and Israel launched broad strikes towards Iran, killing Supreme Chief Ali Khamenei and several other others. For the IRGC, it was the fulfilment of a prophesy — an existential disaster. And they’re combating again with every part they’ve.
Printed – March 10, 2026 04:22 pm IST