Israel’s unprecedented attack against Iran tonight, which has reached military and nuclear facilities, has been especially hard by. General Mohammad Bagheri, Commander of the General Staff of the Armed Forces; General Gholam Ali Rashid, responsible for the Khatam Ol-Anbiya Air Base, and the head of the Revolutionary Guard of Iran, General Hossein Salamí.
Everyone knows what an army does but what is that of the revolutionary guard or the bodies of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, which is its official name? We speak of the considered ideological army of the Ayatolás regime, parallel to that of the traditional Armed Forces. It is the most influential military entity of Iran, with a remarkable presence in Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Gaza and Syria (until last December, when Bashar the Assad escaped), so he was one of the coagulants of the call, with Israel and the US as main adversaries.
This entity was established after the victory of the in 1979 by Ayatolá Ruholá Jomeiní, and responds directly to the supreme leader, Ali Jameneí, who holds the highest political and spiritual authority in Iran. “If the supreme leader symbolizes the power of the word, the revolutionary guard is his sword,” said Antovar analyst in his book Vanguard of the magnetreferring to the importance of this military group for the Republic, an appointment that the EFE agency extracted. “It is the instrument that converts the authority of the leader into an armed and coercive power,” added the expert in the Middle East issues.
Its main mission is military, with approximately 125,000 active members among its land, maritime, aerial and intelligence forces, also in charge of managing Iran’s strategic weapons, including its ballistic missiles.
In addition, it is a cultural institution and a vast economic conglomerate with investments in sectors such as oil, gas, telecommunications, transport, construction and media, according to Ostovar.
It also controls the Basiji, a paramilitary militia of Muslim volunteers with deep influence on Iranian society, with four million members distributed in schools, universities, factories, government offices and mosques. “The Basiji constitute the first line of defense of the revolutionary guard against political and social changes,” Ostovar wrote.
Through the, its international arm, Tehran directs that axis of the resistance, an informal coalition that includes organizations such as Hizbulá in Lebanon, the hutis in Yemen, the Hamas movement, the Islamic jihad and the militias in Iraq, among others.
What is your arsenal?
Regarding the equipment of the Iran’s revolutionary guard, the specific details are unknown. However, they will be among the 15 nations with the greatest military capacity on the planet. Israel said to argue the attacks of tonight that it had, now, with up to nine nuclear bombs, something that has not been tested whether endorsed by other sources.
Tehran has an army of 610,000 troops, complemented by 350,000 reservists and 220,000 members of paramilitary forces. Its arsenal includes 551 aircraft and its Navy has 101 units, including frigates, corvettes, submarines and patrol ships.
Beyond being simply armed forces, they also function as a cultural entity and an economic group with participations in sectors such as oil, gas, telecommunications, transport, construction and media.
