(Tony Blair Institute for Global Change) For over four decades, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has used a network of loyalist militias to advance the Islamic Republic's strategic and ideological objectives, which include exporting the Islamic Revolution, supporting Muslim and anti-U.S. movements, and eradicating the State of Israel. In pursuit of these goals, the IRGC has manufactured its own ideologically compliant militias - such as Hizbullah in Lebanon - and supported groups with shared interests, from Hamas to the Taliban. The premise that Iran would moderate its commitment to creating and sponsoring militias after the 2015 nuclear deal and sanctions relief for Tehran was false. The number of militias created by the IRGC surged after this period, and the Guard's Quds Force expanded its operations in Iraq, Syria and Yemen.
2021-02-11 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive