Islamic Revolutionary Guard Origin - World Jewish Congress
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Islamic Revolutionary Guard Gorps

IRGC Origin

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), or Sepāh-e Pāsdārān-e Enqelāb-e Eslāmi (Army of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution), in Persian, and also known as ‘Pasdaran’, was established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on the 22nd April 1979 following the Islamic Revolution and the overthrow of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. The IRGC, according to the Iranian Constitution, was founded in order to uphold and guard the Islamic Republic’s political system in addition to thwarting interference by foreign bodies and coups by Iran’s military or ‘deviant movements.’ The turning point in the IRGC’s scope and capacity was in its involvement in the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 until 1988. The IRGC’s impact in the war, led to the expansion of both its role and its power, making it Iran’s dominant military force, with its own army, navy, air force and eventually the IRGC’s own intelligence wing.