Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was founded in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution to defend the regime against internal and external threats, but has since expanded far beyond its original mandate. Today the guard has evolved into a socio-military-political-economic force with influence reaching deep into Iran's power structure. During the first term of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, current and former fighters carved out their place in government: they have been appointed ambassadors, mayors, undersecretaries, provincial governors, and fourteen of the country's twenty-one cabinet ministers are veterans of the force. Analysts say the organization, with its control of strategic industries, commercial services, and black-market enterprises, has evolved into one of the country's most influential domestic institutions.
"A Money Machine" - Political clout and military might are not only attributes of today's Revolutionary Guard Corps. It is also a major financial player. Not all of the guard's activities are seen as above board. Mohsen Sazegara, a founding member of the Revolutionary Guard Corps and now a U.S.-based Iranian dissident, says though the original charter of the elite force was to create a "people's army," years of political and military changes have transformed the unit into a shadowy behemoth read more @http://www.cfr.org/publication/14324/#p5
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21 May, 2010
New UN sanctions against Iran might work - Gates
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said that "Iran's resistance to a new round of proposed United Nations sanctions proves that they might work".The UN resolution was "somewhat stronger than I expected," Gates said in a press conference at the Pentagon today.
The U.S. introduced on Tuesday a UN resolution calling for new sets of economic and trade restrictions related to Iran's nuclear and weapons programs, with support from China and Russia. If the resolution was irrelevant for Iran, "I don't think you'd see them expending the kind of diplomatic and other kinds of energy to try and prevent its passage," Gates noted.
"It is not clear to me why the Iranians ... are making and have been making such an extraordinary effort to prevent it from being passed".
KUNA
