The deadly and repressive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the military right arm of the despotic Iranian theocratic government which has been labeled a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department, is showing signs of cracking from the protests by Iran’s citizenry after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Mini in Iranian custody last September.
The IRGC was established by Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini in May 1979 after the Islamic Revolution, and has brutally targeted Iran’s own citizens when they protest against the government. But at a meeting on January 3 between the IRGC and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, it was acknowledged not only that some of the IRGC forces had aided protesters, but one member of the Guard had targeted Khameini’s residence with artillery.
“Since the start of the protests, we have had personnel who have defied orders,” one commander, Gholamali Rashidi, reportedly stated, adding, “One incident involved an individual targeting the Supreme Leader’s residence with artillery.”
Some commanders informed the meeting that the bulk of forces they supervised refused to stand against Iranian citizens and rejected orders to shoot at them.
“Based on our reports, it appears that IRGC forces are not in the same situation as last year, particularly with respect to their morale, as there has been a decline,” Abdullah Haji Sadeghi, who represented Khameini, stated, according to Iran Wire.
“Recently, we have witnessed instances of disruption and aid by armed forces towards civilians,” the deputy commander of the IRGC force in Alborz, Ehsan Khorshidi, admitted.
Mahmoud Mohammadi Shahroudi, the commander in charge of paramilitary Basij seminary students, acknowledged roughly 5,000 members had exited the organization.
When the U.S. designated Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist group in 2019, it was the first time the U.S. had designated the military branch of a foreign country in this manner.
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act stated, “The IRGC, not just the IRGC-QF [the Qods Force, the Guard’s extraterritorial branch], is responsible for implementing Iran’s international program of destabilizing activities, support for acts of international terrorism, and ballistic missile program.”
The law is pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which aimed at freezing the assets of terrorists and their supporters, and preventing their access to U.S. financial and commercial systems, according to the Treasury Department.
Iran’s Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces, Navy, and the Basij paramilitary are all part of the IRGC; the Revolutionary Guard, an all-conscript army, is estimated to have 150,000 active duty members; a Western think tank estimated the Basij at 90,000 active members, 300,000 reservists and one million men who could be mobilized.