Iran Unveiled: How the Revolutionary Guards Is Transforming Iran from Theocracy into Military Dictatorship

285 Pages·2013·0.89 MB·English

by  Ali Alfoneh

Iran Unveiled:
How the Revolutionary Guards
Is Turning Theocracy
into Military Dictatorship
Iran Unveiled:
How the Revolutionary Guards
Is Turning Theocracy
into Military Dictatorship
Ali Alfoneh
The AEI Press
Publisher for the American Enterprise Institute
W A S H I N G T O N , D . C .
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alfoneh, Ali.
Iran unveiled : how the revolutionary guards is turning theocracy into military
dictatorship / Ali Alfoneh.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8447-7253-0 (cloth)—ISBN 978-0-8447-7254-7 (pbk.)—
ISBN 978-0-8447-7255-4 (ebook)
1. Sipah-i Pasdaran-i Inqilab-i Islami (Iran) 2. Iran—History, Military.
3. Civil-military relations—Iran. 4. Iran—Politics and government—1997—
I. Title.
UA853.I7A44 2013
955.06—dc23
2012050830
© 2013 by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, W ashington,
D.C. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced in
any manner whatsoever without permission in writing from the American Enterprise
Institute except in the case of brief quotations embodied in news articles, critical
articles, or reviews. The views expressed in the publications of the American
Enterprise Institute are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
views of the staff, advisory panels, officers, or trustees of AEI.
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
1. INTRODUCTION 1
Notes 5
2. EMERGENCE OF THE GUARDS 6
2.1. Not One, but Several Guards 6
2.2. Unification of the Guards, Institutionalization
of Factionalism 10
Notes 14
3. THE REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS’ ROLE IN DOMESTIC POLITICS 16
3.1. Legal Framework 17
3.2. A History of Politicization 19
3.3. Conclusion 38
Notes 38
4. THE IRGC AS AN INTERNAL SECURITY ORGANIZATION IN
CONTEMPORARY IRAN 47
4.1. Formal Merger of the IRGC with the Basij 48
4.2. The Mosaic Doctrine 50
4.3. Conclusion 56
Notes 57
5. COLAPSE OF THE COMISARIAT 79
5.1. Legal Framework 79
5.2. Early History and Establishment 84
5.3. Khomeini’s Commissars 87
5.4. Khamenei’s Commissars 117
v
vi IRAN UNVEILED
5.5. Conclusion 128
Notes 128
6. DYSFUNCTIONAL IDEOLOGICAL/POLITICAL INDOCTRINATION
IN THE IRGC 150
6.1. The Legal Framework and Institutions 151
6.2. Early Attempts at Ideological/Political Indoctrination
in the IRGC 152
6.3. Indoctrinating to Intervene 156
6.4. Contradictions and Implications 159
6.5. Conclusion 161
Notes 161
7. THE ECONOMIC EMPIRE OF THE IRGC 165
7.1. Twisting of the Legal Framework 166
7.2. From Military Industries to the Production of
Consumer Goods 168
7.3. From Social Housing to Real Estate Speculation
in Dubai 169
7.4. The IRGC as a Contractor: Enemy of the
Private Sector 171
7.5. Chain Stores of the Guards: Competition with the
Traditional Bazaar 173
7.6. The IRGC and Telecommunications: Elimination of
Domestic and Foreign Competition 175
7.7. The IRGC and the Oil and Gas Sector 175
7.8. The IRGC on the Tehran Stock Exchange 179
7.9. The IRGC and Smuggling 189
7.10. Conclusion 191
Notes 192
8. THE REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS AND THE EXPORT
OF THE REVOLUTION 204
8.1. The Ideological Foundations of the Export of
the Revolution 204
8.2. Practical Foundations of the Export of the Revolution:
Iranian Revolutionaries as Members of a World
Revolutionary Movement 206
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
8.3. Export of the Revolution as a National Security Doctrine
and an Instrument of Domestic Power Struggle 211
8.4. Exporting the Revolution 214
8.5. Conclusion: Practical Benefits of the Export
of the Revolution for the IRGC 235
Notes 237
9. CONCLUSION 246
INDEX 251
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 267
List of Illustrations
FIGURES
2-1 Attempted Reconstruction of the Organizational Chart
of the IRGC as of April 22, 1979 13
7-1 Value of Privatized State-Owned Enterprises in Iran,
1991–2008 180
7-2 Percentage of Assets Purchased through Privatization
of State-Owned Enterprises in Iran, 2005–2009,
by Purchasing Sector 181
TABLES
2-1 Islamist Khomeini Loyalists at the Eve of the Revolution 7
2-2 Composition and Leading Members of the Umbrella
Organization Holy Warriors of the Islamic Revolution 9
2-3 Factions Negotiating Unification of the Guards in 1979 12
4-1 IRGC Organizational Structure at General Governorate
Level as of July 2008 51
5-1 Representatives of Grand Ayatollah Khomeini and
Ayatollah Khamenei to the IRGC, 1979–2011 81
5-2 Representatives of the Supreme Leader in the IRGC 83
5-3 Representatives of the Supreme Leader to the IRGC
at the Provincial Level 85
7-1 Main Subsidiaries of the Mehr Finance and Credit
Institution (Formerly the Basij Cooperative
Foundation) 182
7-2 Subsidiaries of the Mehr Finance and Credit Institution 183
7-3 Companies Entirely or Partially Owned by Mehr-e
Eghtesad-e Iranian Investment Company 184
viii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix
7-4 Companies and Investment Institutes Entirely or Partially
Owned by the IRGC Cooperative Foundation as of
May 31, 2010 187
On the cover: This image depicts the IRGC logo. At the base of the coat of arms,
the number 1357 refers to the year 1979, which not only commemorates the
year of the revolution in Iran, the establishment of the Islamic Republic, and
the emergence of the IRGC but also heralds the beginning of a new era of world
revolution. The centerpiece of the logo shows strong arms holding an AK-47, the
emblematic weapon of revolutionary armies in the 1960s and 1970s. The arms
are shaped in the form of the Arabic word La, a reference to the first article of the
faith in Islam, La Ilaha I lallah (there is no God but Allah). The Islamist character
of the IRGC is further signified by a book that symbolizes the Quran. The Arabic
text at the top of the logo reads, “And make ready for them whatever force you
can.” The text is from verse 60 of the “Sura al-Anfal,” which—not quoted on the
coat of arms—subsequently reads: “to frighten [terrorize] thereby the enemy of
Allah and your enemy and others besides them, whom you know not—Allah
knows them.” There is also an olive branch, which does not play a prominent role
in the logo, and a globe, which does. As d emonstrated by its coat of arms, the
IRGC is clearly a military organization that serves as the vanguard of an Islamist
world revolution—a permanent revolution that never managed to seize control
over the Islamic world but helped the IRGC seize control over Iran.
ix