سپاه پاسداران

What it is

سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی (sepâh-e pâsdârân-e enqelâb-e eslâmi), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is a parallel military force separate from the regular Iranian Army (Artesh). Founded in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini, its constitutional mandate (Article 150) is to protect the revolution itself, not the territorial state. It reports directly to the Supreme Leader.

The mechanics

The Sepâh runs five branches: Ground Forces, Aerospace Force (in charge of Iran’s ballistic missiles and drones), Navy (Persian Gulf), the Quds Force (overseas operations and proxy management for Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, the Houthis), and the Basij paramilitary. Personnel: roughly 190,000 active troops plus several hundred thousand mobilizable Basij. It also runs Khâtam-ol-Anbiâ, one of Iran’s largest construction conglomerates, and a parallel intelligence arm (etelâ’ât-e sepâh) that operates separately from the civilian Ministry of Intelligence. Commanders are appointed by the Supreme Leader. Parliament does not vet them. The cabinet does not command them.

Sanctions and designations

The United States designated the IRGC a Foreign Terrorist Organization on 15 April 2019, the first time Washington had ever applied that label to part of another government’s armed forces. The European Union added the IRGC to its terrorist list on 19 February 2026 (Council of the EU press release), only the second state armed force ever listed by the bloc. The United Kingdom proscribed the Quds Force in 2019 and moved toward full IRGC proscription through 2024. Canada listed the IRGC as a terrorist entity in 2024. US Treasury has layered sanctions on dozens of IRGC-linked companies and commanders under counter-terrorism, human-rights, and proliferation authorities.

In our voice

Call it what it is. The Sepâh was built in 1979 to defend the revolution against the Iranian people, and forty-six years later that is still the job. The IRGC shot the protesters in Âbân 98 (at least 304 dead per Amnesty International, more than 1,500 by Reuters reporting). It oversaw the November 2022 hangings of protesters arrested during the Mahsa uprising. It shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 in January 2020 with a Tor-M1 missile and lied about it for three days. The Quds Force, run for two decades by Qassem Soleimani, ran proxy wars from Beirut to Sanaa. Khâtam-ol-Anbiâ wins state contracts no Iranian private firm can bid against. The “guards” guard one office: Khamenei’s. The institution is not a defense ministry with a terrorism problem. It is a holding company whose product is regime survival, and the bill is paid in Iranian lives.

Why it’s in this glossary

Because pretending the IRGC is just “Iran’s army” launders the institution that built the architecture for shooting Iranian children in the face during a hijab protest. Language learners deserve the actual word, not the diplomatic sanitization.

How to use it

• سپاه پاسداران به‌عنوان سازمان تروریستی شناخته می‌شود (sepâh-e pâsdârân be onvân-e sâzmân-e teroristi shenâkhte mishavad) “The IRGC is recognized as a terrorist organization”
• سپاه نیروی موازی ارتش است (sepâh niru-ye movâzi-ye artesh ast) “The Sepâh is a parallel force to the regular army”
• اقتصاد سپاه (eqtesâd-e sepâh) “the Sepâh’s economy” (a standard phrase among Iranian economists)

References

• Dehkhoda: sepâh
• US State Department, FTO list (IRGC designated 15 April 2019)
• Council of the EU, IRGC terrorist designation, 19 February 2026
• Amnesty International, Âbân 98 death toll, May 2020
• Reuters Special Report, Iran crackdown November 2019