Iran's Revolutionary Guards: powerful group with wide regional reach

A senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' Quds force, Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was reported killed on Monday in what Syrian and Iranian media called an Israeli airstrike on Iranian diplomatic premises in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

Following are some questions and answers about the IRGC, Iran's dominant military force, with its own army, navy, airforce and intelligence wing:

WHAT IS THE IRGC?

It was set up shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution toprotect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system and provide acounterweight to the regular armed forces.

It answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. TheIRGC has an estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navyand air units. It also commands the Basij religious militia, avolunteer paramilitary force loyal to the clerical establishmentthat is often used to crack down on anti-government protests.

Basijis mounted “human wave” attacks against Iraqi troopsduring the 1980s war. In peacetime, they enforce Iran’s Islamicsocial codes. Analysts say Basij volunteers may number in themillions, with 1 million active members.

The Quds Force is the IRGC's foreign espionage andparamilitary arm that heavily influences its allied militiaacross the Middle East, from Lebanon to Iraq and Yemen to Syria.Its members have fought in support of President Bashar al-Assadin Syria’s civil war and have backed Iraqi security forces intheir battle against Islamic State militants in recent years.

Its top commander, Major-General Qassem Soleimani, waskilled by the United States in a drone attack in Iraq in 2020.His death raised fears of a major conflict. The killing of allAmerican leaders would not be enough to avenge the assassinationof Soleimani, a senior Iranian Guards commander said later.

The IRGC, branded a terrorist group by the United States,has sought for years to shape the Middle East in favour ofTehran. For instance, it founded Lebanon's Hezbollah in 1982 toexport Iran's Islamic Revolution and fight Israeli forces thatinvaded Lebanon that same year.

Hezbollah is now a major military force that has played arole in regional conflicts.

WHAT ARE THE IRGC’S MILITARY CAPABILITIES?

The IRGC oversees Iran’s ballistic missile programme,regarded by experts as the largest in the Middle East.

The Guards have used the missiles to hit Sunni Muslimmilitants in Syria and Iranian Kurdish opposition groups innorthern Iraq. The United States, European powers and SaudiArabia blamed Iran for a 2019 missile and drone attack thatcrippled the world's biggest oil processing facility in SaudiArabia. Iran denied any involvement in the assault.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump pointed to Iran’s missileprogramme as one of the points not addressed in its 2015 nucleardeal with world powers and cited that as a reason for pullingout of the agreement in 2018.

The Guards have extensive conventional combat hardware andcapabilities which were showcased in their involvement in theconflicts in Syria and Iraq.

WHAT IS THE IRGC’S POSITION IN IRAN'S POLITICAL SYSTEM?

Former Revolutionary Guards officers occupy key positions inIran's establishment, from the government to parliament. Most ofPresident Ebrahim Raisi's cabinet are former IRGC officers.

The IRGC’s mandate to protect revolutionary values hasprompted it to speak out when it felt the system was threatened.

WHAT ABOUT BUSINESS INTERESTS?

After the 1980s Iraq war, the IRGC became heavily involvedin Iran’s reconstruction and has expanded its economic intereststo include a vast network of businesses, ranging from oil andgas projects to construction and telecommunication. Its businessinterests are worth billions of dollars.