By: Sara Akrami and Saeed Ghasseminejad
Founder and President of the Human Rights Activists Association at York University-Canada

When the Islamic Republic of Iran was established in 1979, its leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, formed a notorious organization called the “Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.” Aside from its securing its major goal, the protection of the Islamic system of Iran, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps works to prevent any uprisings or internal dissent. It has also been linked to terrorist activities around the world and supports terrorist organizations. In recent years, especially under the government of the inhumane and Holocaust-denying President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the IRGC has taken over many aspects of Iranian society; it has influence in the political, social, military and especially economic systems. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has turned into a business empire in Iran and is known as one of the wealthiest organizations after the National Iranian Oil Company.

At the beginning, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps functioned more like an intelligence service and militia organizer. It also played a decisive role in defeating the first president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Bani Sadr, in 1981. During the Iran-Iraq War, the IRGC received a lot of support, including vast sums of money and supplies, from the regime’s clerics. During these years, Rafsanjani (the former President of the regime), who was appointed Commander of War by Khomeini, had close ties with the IRGC. It was after Khomeini’s death that the IRGC became increasingly involved in Iran’s politics, and to an ever-greater degree, economy. When Rafsanjani’s presidency ended and Khatami, a former President of the regime who had promised reforms, came to power, the IRGC became one of the main players in the economy. One of the most significant actions of the IRGC was to bring an unknown political figure, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to power and elect him as the President of Iran. Before becoming President, Ahmadinejad was the mayor of the capital of Iran, Tehran. When Ahmadinejad came to power, he decided to recompense the IRGC’s help. Thereafter, many of Ahmadinejad’s cabinet ministers were chosen from members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. In recent years, IRGC has received about $25B in gas and oil contracts. In addition, when Ahmadinejad’s government privatized more than $60B of public assets, the majority of its valuable part went to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Despite the fact that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is a key role in Iran’s economy, this organization has been involved in various terrorist activities around the world. These terrorist activities include the 1983 United States Embassy bombing in Beirut, the 1988 Kuwait Airlines hijacking, the 1992 Israel Embassy attack in Buenos Aires, and most significantly, the explosion of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994. The explosion of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association was one of the deadliest bombings that has ever occurred in Argentina and resulted in injury and death for many innocent Jewish citizens. The Iranian government directed this terrorist activity through the terrorist group Hezbollah in order to take revenge on the government of Argentina, who had suspended its nuclear technology transfer agreement with Iran. In addition, the IRGC played an important role during the 2006 Lebanon War and was responsible for firing missiles on Israeli naval vessels. It further assisted Hezbollah to fire rockets into Israel across the Syrian border.

In addition, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has assassinated many Iranian political activists and opponents of the regime who escaped from Iran to various parts of the world after the Revolution. It is necessary to add that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps is responsible for suppressing Iranian citizens who oppose the government. For example, during post-election events in Iran when thousands of Iranian dissidents of the government flooded the streets, the IRGC assisted the police forces in arresting, beating, shooting and even killing people.

Finally, although the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps plays a key role in the social, political and economic life of Iran, it extends the existence of the notorious government of Iran, a government that has thousands of opponents inside and outside of Iran and that has taken the lives of many innocent individuals through its terrorist activities and brutal actions. We therefore suggest that IRGC should be named a terrorist organization. In addition, its commanders and, more importantly, all the companies that are owned by IRGC and their financial managers, should be put on the sanction list.