Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) marked its 46th anniversary this week with officials presenting the organization as the world’s largest force battling terrorism. The declaration, made by IRGC spokesperson Ali Ahmad Naeini during a Tehran ceremony, stands in direct contrast to widely accepted international assessments—including those from the United States, Israel, Canada, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain—which designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization and hold it responsible for extensive regional destabilization.
Background to the IRGC’s Role
Established in 1979 following Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the IRGC grew rapidly from a revolutionary militia to a multifaceted power center, influencing Iran’s politics, economy, and foreign policy. With its elite Quds Force, the IRGC extends Iranian influence across the Middle East by providing military, financial, and logistical support to allied militant and terror groups. The IRGC’s stated aim is to safeguard the Islamic Republic’s interests and the principles of the revolution, but its methods have drawn international condemnation for decades.
International Terror Designations and Operations
The U.S. State Department designated the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2019, citing its “central role in promoting terrorism as a tool of statecraft.” Canada, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Israel echo these concerns, each recognizing the IRGC for its operational links to groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen, and numerous Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq. Official European Union documents and Israeli government statements regularly highlight direct IRGC involvement in attacks targeting civilians, critical infrastructure, and regional stability.
Key IRGC-Supported Attacks and Proxies
The IRGC’s reach extends well beyond Iran’s borders. Investigations and intelligence from Western and regional agencies implicate the Guard in spectacular and deadly operations: the 1983 Beirut Marine barracks bombing (via Hezbollah), the 1994 AMIA Jewish community center bombing in Buenos Aires, recurrent Gaza rocket fire, and recent Houthi drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea. Iran’s Quds Force is integral to these efforts, orchestrating logistics, financing, intelligence, and training for its proxies. Throughout these activities, the IRGC rarely acts in the open, relying on deniable channels, interconnected militias, and a global network for procurement and recruitment.
IRGC Involvement in the October 7 Hamas Attack
The largest single atrocity attributed to Iranian support in recent years is the October 7, 2023 attack against Israeli communities bordering Gaza. On that day, Hamas terrorists, benefitting from years of IRGC training, funding, and weapon provision, conducted a massacre resulting in over 1,200 Israeli civilian deaths and over 200 abductions. Human Rights organizations, as well as Israeli and U.S. military briefings, attribute a decisive enabling role to Iran’s Quds Force in this attack, which included widespread executions, torture, and abuse—the deadliest antisemitic atrocity since the Holocaust.
Iran’s “Axis of Resistance” and Regional Destabilization
Rather than simply acting as a conventional military instrument, the IRGC architects and directs the so-called “axis of resistance”—a loose but cohesive alliance of armed groups committed to Iran’s regional vision. In Lebanon, Hezbollah’s arsenal is enhanced by Iranian precision missiles, posing a direct threat to Israeli civilian areas. The Houthis in Yemen, likewise, have become a strategic asset for Iran, targeting Gulf states and threatening key maritime routes with ballistic and cruise missiles. In Syria and Iraq, IRGC-supported militias have shaped ongoing conflicts, with Iranian commanders often present on the ground.
Hostage-Taking and State Leverage
Part of the IRGC’s international toolkit is state-sanctioned hostage-taking. Dual citizens, including Israelis, Americans, and Europeans, have been abducted and used as bargaining chips in diplomatic standoffs, drawing condemnation from human rights organizations and broad Western consensus that such acts amount to state-sponsored terror.
Economic Power and Sanctions
Domestically, the IRGC oversees a vast economic empire in energy, telecommunications, and construction, diverting profits to sustain both its internal security apparatus and its overseas terror operations. Global sanctions have targeted the Guard and its business interests, yet the organization continues to find and exploit new resource channels, including smuggling, cyber-crime, and illicit trade.
International and Israeli Reactions
The diplomatic response to the IRGC’s record has been growing isolation, sanctions, and interdiction efforts. Successive Israeli governments, with bipartisan support in the United States and among Abraham Accords partners, prioritize containing IRGC expansion and preventing further entrenchment of its proxies near Israel’s borders.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz emphasize that Israel’s ongoing military operations—in Gaza, along the Lebanese border, and in countering missile threats from Yemen and Syria—are acts of self-defense against a broader war imposed by Iran and orchestrated through IRGC channels. Military and policy experts note that Israeli operations seek not only to neutralize immediate threats but to expose and disrupt the wider terror network Iran seeks to establish across the region.
Conclusion
Despite statements from its leadership presenting it as a force for peace or anti-terrorism, the IRGC’s track record demonstrates wide-ranging involvement in terrorism, regional destabilization, hostage-taking, and support for armed proxies. On the IRGC’s 46th anniversary, international and Israeli policymakers reinforce the need for continued vigilance, clear moral distinctions, and coordinated action to prevent Iranian-sponsored violence and safeguard regional stability.
