Controversies surrounding Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution
Encyclopedia
Since the establishment of Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Sepah Pasdaran), the organization was involved in many economic and military activities and some of them were subject to controversies.
One Majlis
member recently stated that IRGC black-market activities might account for $12 billion per year. Yet at the same time, IRGC and Basij forces have been commended for their positive role in fighting illegal smuggling—a further illustration of the institution’s multidimensional and frequently contradictory
nature.
The IRGC is charged with enforcing Iran's morals laws. With no oversight the IRGC has simply moved to control the rackets in Iran and eliminate any major competitors to the prostitution, alcohol, cigarettes, and heroin businesses.
Whether the IRGC, itself, or high ranking members of the IRGC are behind the prostitution rackets in the European Union is a matter of dispute. What is not in dispute is that thousands of Iranian prostitutes earn substantial amounts of hard currency annually working throughout the EU.
Other Lebanese parties have expressed concern about this relationship but remained neutral as they saw the AGIR's presence in Lebanon as resistance against Israeli presence. This came despite the ongoing fight between the Lebanese Amal
militias and the PLO and its Sunni allies.
According to Jane's Information Group
:
fighters are being trained in urban assault tactics by the IRG.
has repeatedly asserted IRG involvement in the Iraq War against Iranian denials, though the U.S. has stopped short of saying the central government of Iran is responsible for the actions. In May 2008, Iraq said it had no evidence that Iran was supporting militants on Iraqi soil. According to a database compiled by the Multi-National Task Force's Iraq Task Force Troy, Iranian-made weapons accounted for only a negligible percentage of weapon caches found in Iraq. The U.S. charges come as Iran and Turkey
have complained that U.S.-supplied guns are flowing from Iraq to anti-government militants on their soil.
The Department has reported that it has intelligence reports of heavy Islamic Revolutionary Guard involvement in Iraq
in which the force is supplying Iraqi insurgents. It is further claimed that US soldiers have been killed by Iranian-made or designed explosive devices. This claim is disputed by Iran, saying that the bulk of American military deaths in Iraq are due to a Sunni insurgency and not a Shiite one. Two different studies have maintained that approximately half of all foreign insurgents entering Iraq come from Saudi Arabia
. Iran further disputes that former Iraqi army personnel, whom, prior to the 2003 invasion, the US and UK claimed were capable of deploying advanced missile systems capable of launching WMDs within 45 minutes, would be incapable of designing and producing improvised explosive devices.
The U.S. charges of Iranian support come as Iran and Turkey
have complained that U.S.-supplied guns are flowing from Iraq to anti-government militants on their soil. The Government Accountability Office (GAO)
, the investigative arm of the US Congress, said in a report that the Pentagon
cannot account for 190,000 AK-47 rifles
and pistols given to Iraqi security forces. Security analysts with the Centre for Defence Information, along with one senior Pentagon official, suggested that some of the weapons have probably made their way in to the hands of Iraqi insurgents. Italian arms investigators also recently stopped Iraqi government officials from illegally shipping more than 100,000 Russian-made automatic weapons into Iraq. In November 2008, the U.S. State Department prepared to slap a multimillion-dollar fine on Blackwater for shipping hundreds of automatic weapons to Iraq without the necessary permits. Some of the weapons were believed to have ended up on the country’s black market.
In January 2007 the US army detained five Iranians in northern Iraq, claiming they were Ghods operatives of the AGIR, providing military assistance to Shiite militias, without offering any further evidence that lends credibility to such claims. The Iranian and Iraqi governments maintain that they were diplomats working for the Iranian consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan. The "IRGC cadres" were released as a negotiated deal for British sailors under the auspices of General Suleimani.
In December 2009 evidence uncovered during an investigation by the Guardian newspaper newspaper and Guardian Films linked the Quds force to the kidnappings of 5 Britons from a government ministry building in Baghdad in 2007. Three of the hostages, Jason Creswell, Jason Swindlehurst and Alec Maclachlan, were killed. Alan Mcmenemy's body was never found but Peter Moore was released on 30 December 2009. The investigation uncovered evidence that Moore, 37, a computer expert from Lincoln was targeted because he was installing a system for the Iraqi Government that would show how a vast amount of international aid was diverted to Iran's militia groups in Iraq. One of the alleged groups funded by the Quds force directly is the Righteous League, which emerged in 2006 and has stayed largely in the shadows as a proxy of the al-Quds force. Shia cleric and leading figure of the Righteous League, Qais al-Khazali, was handed over by the US military for release by the Iraqi government on December 29, 2009 as part of the deal that led to the release of Moore.
When Voice of America
, the official external radio and television broadcasting service of the United States federal government
, asked if the IRGC is supplying weapons to the Taliban, the current president
of Iran
, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, laughed and said the US doesn't want Iran to be friends with Afghanistan. "What is the reason they are saying such things?" asked Ahmadinejad.
Human Rights Abuses
The IRGC has been known to regularly practice torture and various other human rights abuses in order to eliminate the reform movement within Iran.- In 1993, Ayatollah Khamenei appointed Naghdi as deputy director of intelligence of the Quds Force, a branch of the IRGC responsible for international operations. Naghdi and his team allegedly committed numerous acts of torture and abuse.
Corruption
The AGIR have been accused of corruption, including the importation of illegal alcoholic beverages into the Islamic Republic. In 2005, the IRGC was discovered to be running an illegal airport near Karaj City, close to Tehran where they imported and exported goods with no government oversight. In 2004, the Pasdaran stormed the new Tehran airport just after it had been officially opened and shut it down, ostensively for security reasons. According to their critics, however, it was shut because the company hired to operate the airport was a Turkish "competitor of a Pasdaran owned business". It was later reopened under Pasdaran management.One Majlis
Majlis
' , is an Arabic term meaning "a place of sitting", used in the context of "council", to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups be it administrative, social or religious in countries with linguistic or cultural connections to Islamic countries...
member recently stated that IRGC black-market activities might account for $12 billion per year. Yet at the same time, IRGC and Basij forces have been commended for their positive role in fighting illegal smuggling—a further illustration of the institution’s multidimensional and frequently contradictory
nature.
The IRGC is charged with enforcing Iran's morals laws. With no oversight the IRGC has simply moved to control the rackets in Iran and eliminate any major competitors to the prostitution, alcohol, cigarettes, and heroin businesses.
Whether the IRGC, itself, or high ranking members of the IRGC are behind the prostitution rackets in the European Union is a matter of dispute. What is not in dispute is that thousands of Iranian prostitutes earn substantial amounts of hard currency annually working throughout the EU.
Involvement with Hezbollah
The AGIR's logo was inspiration for the logo of Hezbollah. The IRG provided military training to Hezbollah fighters in the Bekaa valley during the early eighties.Other Lebanese parties have expressed concern about this relationship but remained neutral as they saw the AGIR's presence in Lebanon as resistance against Israeli presence. This came despite the ongoing fight between the Lebanese Amal
Amal Movement
Amal Movement is short for the Lebanese Resistance Detachments the acronym for which, in Arabic, is "amal", meaning "hope."Amal was founded in 1975 as the militia wing of the Movement of the Disinherited, a Shi'a political movement founded by Musa...
militias and the PLO and its Sunni allies.
According to Jane's Information Group
Jane's Information Group
Jane's Information Group is a publishing company specializing in transportation and military topics.-History:It was founded by Fred T...
:
"Any Hezbollah member receiving military training is likely to do so at the hands of IRGC [the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps], either in southern Lebanon or in camps in Iran. The increasingly sophisticated methods used by IRGC members indicates that they are trained using Israeli and US military manuals; the emphasis of this training is on the tactics of attrition, mobility, intelligence gathering and night-time manoeuvres."
Involvement with Hamas
According to the New York Times, HamasHamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
fighters are being trained in urban assault tactics by the IRG.
Alleged involvement in the Iraq War
The United States Department of DefenseUnited States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
has repeatedly asserted IRG involvement in the Iraq War against Iranian denials, though the U.S. has stopped short of saying the central government of Iran is responsible for the actions. In May 2008, Iraq said it had no evidence that Iran was supporting militants on Iraqi soil. According to a database compiled by the Multi-National Task Force's Iraq Task Force Troy, Iranian-made weapons accounted for only a negligible percentage of weapon caches found in Iraq. The U.S. charges come as Iran and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
have complained that U.S.-supplied guns are flowing from Iraq to anti-government militants on their soil.
The Department has reported that it has intelligence reports of heavy Islamic Revolutionary Guard involvement in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in which the force is supplying Iraqi insurgents. It is further claimed that US soldiers have been killed by Iranian-made or designed explosive devices. This claim is disputed by Iran, saying that the bulk of American military deaths in Iraq are due to a Sunni insurgency and not a Shiite one. Two different studies have maintained that approximately half of all foreign insurgents entering Iraq come from Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
. Iran further disputes that former Iraqi army personnel, whom, prior to the 2003 invasion, the US and UK claimed were capable of deploying advanced missile systems capable of launching WMDs within 45 minutes, would be incapable of designing and producing improvised explosive devices.
The U.S. charges of Iranian support come as Iran and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
have complained that U.S.-supplied guns are flowing from Iraq to anti-government militants on their soil. The Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Government Accountability Office
The Government Accountability Office is the audit, evaluation, and investigative arm of the United States Congress. It is located in the legislative branch of the United States government.-History:...
, the investigative arm of the US Congress, said in a report that the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
cannot account for 190,000 AK-47 rifles
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
and pistols given to Iraqi security forces. Security analysts with the Centre for Defence Information, along with one senior Pentagon official, suggested that some of the weapons have probably made their way in to the hands of Iraqi insurgents. Italian arms investigators also recently stopped Iraqi government officials from illegally shipping more than 100,000 Russian-made automatic weapons into Iraq. In November 2008, the U.S. State Department prepared to slap a multimillion-dollar fine on Blackwater for shipping hundreds of automatic weapons to Iraq without the necessary permits. Some of the weapons were believed to have ended up on the country’s black market.
In January 2007 the US army detained five Iranians in northern Iraq, claiming they were Ghods operatives of the AGIR, providing military assistance to Shiite militias, without offering any further evidence that lends credibility to such claims. The Iranian and Iraqi governments maintain that they were diplomats working for the Iranian consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan. The "IRGC cadres" were released as a negotiated deal for British sailors under the auspices of General Suleimani.
In December 2009 evidence uncovered during an investigation by the Guardian newspaper newspaper and Guardian Films linked the Quds force to the kidnappings of 5 Britons from a government ministry building in Baghdad in 2007. Three of the hostages, Jason Creswell, Jason Swindlehurst and Alec Maclachlan, were killed. Alan Mcmenemy's body was never found but Peter Moore was released on 30 December 2009. The investigation uncovered evidence that Moore, 37, a computer expert from Lincoln was targeted because he was installing a system for the Iraqi Government that would show how a vast amount of international aid was diverted to Iran's militia groups in Iraq. One of the alleged groups funded by the Quds force directly is the Righteous League, which emerged in 2006 and has stayed largely in the shadows as a proxy of the al-Quds force. Shia cleric and leading figure of the Righteous League, Qais al-Khazali, was handed over by the US military for release by the Iraqi government on December 29, 2009 as part of the deal that led to the release of Moore.
Labeling by the United States as a "Terrorist Organization"
On October 25, 2007, the United States labeled the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) as "terrorist organizations" with the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment. The Iranian Parliament responded by approving a nonbinding resolution labeling the CIA and the U.S. Army "terrorist organizations". The resolution cited U.S. involvement in dropping nuclear bombs in Japan in World War II, using depleted uranium munitions in the Balkans, bombing and killing Iraqi civilians, and torturing terror suspects in prisons among others.When Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
, the official external radio and television broadcasting service of the United States federal government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
, asked if the IRGC is supplying weapons to the Taliban, the current president
President of Iran
The President of Iran is the highest popularly elected official in, and the head of government of the Islamic Republic of Iran; although subordinate to the Supreme Leader of Iran, who functions as the country's head of state...
of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, laughed and said the US doesn't want Iran to be friends with Afghanistan. "What is the reason they are saying such things?" asked Ahmadinejad.