29 Mar 2024
Thursday 26 October 2017 - 15:25
Story Code : 280868

Trump undermines Iranian debate on economic role of IRGC

Al-Monitor | : The US Treasury Departments recentmove to designateIrans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)under terrorism authorityhas put the military organization back in the spotlight. Thesubsequent tweetby Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in which he declared that all Iranians are IRGC ready to defend their homeland in response to US pressure, gave rise to spirited debate on social media about the GuardCorps and its role in Iranian society.


The US Treasurys action and Zarifs responseillustrate the dual character of the IRGC as it exists in Iran today. On one hand, it is a political and military organization and the principalactor behind Irans internal and external security posture. On the other hand, it is an organization of great social significance, motivated by the ideology of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and a patron of institutions and bodies that define the orthodoxy of Iranian patriotism.

To undergird its position as a cornerstone of the Islamic Republic, the IRGC has long sought proximity to the Iranian public in another, more universal domain namely, the economy. The Guard Corps hashave developed economic proximity with a wide swath of Iranian society through its control of two types of entities. First, the IRGCoversees a networkof companies active in strategic sectors such as the operation of airports and seaports, the construction of roads and bridgesand the extraction of energy sources and minerals, giving it a stable economic base beyond the moneyguaranteed to it by the central government. Second, the Guard Corpscontrols holding companies, often in the guise of bonyads, or charitable foundations. Through these foundations, the IRGC is the indirect shareholderof a number of publicly listed companies, enmeshing its ownership with that of the private sector.

Read more here
https://theiranproject.com/vdcb0gb5wrhbwwp.4eur.html
Your Name
Your Email Address