The IRGC Had a Tough Year With Rouhani’s Administration

The Iranian calendar year of 1393 ended on March 20^th and for the Revolutionary Guards it was another year of tumultuous relations with the government whose chief executive this time had declared his intention of embarking on “constructive interaction with the world.” The Guards issued almost-monthly red-lines to the government, and others, right from the beginning and still ended the year in anxiety over their own future. Their characterization however changed in time from “Our very own smuggler brothers” to “Corrupt heroes.”

The first red line came after the European Union announced that it planned to open a mission in Tehran. Guard general Mohammad-Reza Naghdi responded with “The EU has no business opening an office in Iran.” The government defended its outreach to the world and the West in particular. It was another Guard general, Yadollah Javani, who is viewed as the “brain” of the force, who took up the task of opening the discussion and acknowledging that there were those in Iran who questioned the cost-benefit of pursing the nuclear program and calling for investment in other important areas. He denied that sanctions against Iran were because of its nuclear program.

In early April, the top Guard commander Mohammad Ali Jaafari openly told a group of commanders of the force that, “Unfortunately, the government has not welcomed the proposals and measures of the Basij ideological para-military force for ‘resistance economy.’” Four days later, on April 18, 2014 – Army day in Iran - president Hassan Rouhani responded by conspicuously praising the regular armed forces in a manner that seemed to be pinning them against the Guards. He said, “The army of the Islamic republic is rightfully the professional institution for the defense of the Islamic homeland. The army has put defense of the territory, motherland and the people’s regime as its highest goal without regard to political, party or factional groupings.” He noted that the army had not worked to carve a special place for itself and further said, “The army has shown that is has followed ayatollah Khomeini’s will, which states that the armed forces  should not get involved in political work. They should be politically aware but never get involved in political groupings and games. It has always pursued the goal of defending the motherland, the country, the revolution and the regime.”

The Guards, and the public, heard the message and it did not take long for the IRGC to respond by attacking the foreign policy of the new administration. The first to respond was commander of the ground forces of the Guards general Mohammad Pakpoor who said, “The Guards do not pay the political price for individuals or even groups but it is natural that if any person deviates from the line of ayatollah Khomeini, the supreme leader or the identity of the revolution, then the Guards will have an issue with them.” Then a representative of ayatollah Khamenei in the Guards, Mohammad-Ali Govahi came in defense of the force’s economic intrusions and justified it by saying the Guards were a “people’s” force that “has engaged in confronting the economic threats.” He added that it would not allow the revolution to be harmed, which is why others of wanting to “destroy the guards and make them inactive,” he asserted.

Others followed the same line through media controlled by the Guards and internal bulletins. One article accused domestic groups/forces to be in line with foreign enemies in wanting to curtail the Guards and change its nature and mission. But the clearest response that used the same wording as those of Rouhani came from Ali Saeedi, Khamenei’s representative in the IRGC. “The Guard’s request to cooperate with the government and strengthen the economic infrastructure is not overreach but stems from its inherent mission to support the development of the country to attain the goals of the regime.”

These exchanges continued for months into spring. At the same time, former Guard members who were now seated as MPs in the Majlis openly expressed their concerns and reservations about the foreign ministry’s nuclear talks with the 6 major world powers.

At the same time, as the self-proclaimed Islamic State expanded its territories in Iraq and Syria, the Guards used the occasion in two ways. First they began to widely publicize the threat of IS by posting images and writing about it and especially about the “advance” of IS. The second effort was to present the “capabilities” of the Guards during the eight years with Iraq and their ability to confront any foreign threat. General Hamedani announced that the IRGC would create confront IS and defend the “people of the region” with help from Iraqi and Syrian people and the creation of a Basij militia. At this time the emphasis was that the Guards would only act as “advisors,” with no physical involvement in the conflict or ground battles.

In the middle of summer, Rouhani launched another verbal attack, this time on the Majlis representatives who had roots in the IRGC. He said, “There is a group that says it shivers whenever talks (with the West) are mentioned. Well, you can go to hell and find yourself a warm place there. God has created you cowards.” He added this by saying that there were individuals inside the country who were fear-mongering and creating fears over the talks. He said, “People cunningly elected a government and told us that they rejected confrontation and wanted constructive interaction with the world. They told us they wanted a rational and reasonable approach with foreigners which was also courageous and thoughtful and would take the national interest into account.” He then used the very term used by the Guards and said, “Our red lines are our national interests,” meaning they are not what the Guards routinely self-define.

Ayatollah Khamenei’s representative in the Basij, Mohammad-Reza Toisarkani responded the very next day. “Calling America the enemy is not being a coward. The Islamic revolution is after destroying the White House and uprooting the Zionist regime. Forgetting the ideals of the revolution is an act of treason to the revolution. Revolutionary forces will never allow this to happen.”

By the end of summer the exchanges had heated up to new levels. Abdollah Hajji Sadeghi, another representative of ayatollah Khamenei who had earlier complained about Rouhani’s election and called him a traitor, said, “Arrogance (the official name for the United States) is against us because of our religion. So long as we stand for our religion and principles it will not be in peace with us. We should have talks but not sacrifice on our principles. The only person who is leading the revolution is the supreme leader.”

The next issue that was a preoccupation within the Guards was the health of ayatollah Khamenei, who had undergone prostate surgery. Cleric Saeedi spoke of succession in Islam and the dangers facing the current issue of succession. “Mistakes could happen again,” he warned.

During the second half of last year the Guards used the crisis and war in the region to justify their domestic actions vis-à-vis the government. Guard general Mohammad Bagheri who is the deputy chairman of the joint chief of staff made speeches in which he portrayed the Guards to be the only force facing IS in Iraq. “We have defined our red lines in Iraq and if they are crossed and this group comes close to the frontier perimeter that we have defined, we shall destroy it. They had understood this and are 40 kilometers away from the border today. They have respected the 40 kilometer buffer zone.”

On October 13, commander Javani officially announced that general Ghasem Soleymani was fighting the forces of the Islamic State in Iraq and that he had prevented the fall of Baghdad. Another Guards general, Gholamali Rashid went even further and said the Ghods Force of the IRGC had a field presence in Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Iraq, where it was in battle. By this time, the media in Iran was full of images and “accomplishments” of general Soleymani. Soon Saeedi went even further than the Middle East and said the Guards had a strategic depth in Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain, Latin America, Lebanon and the Mediterranean basin.

When the self-imposed deadline for the nuclear talks was extended in 2014, Guards hardliners jumped on the bandwagon again and criticized the government for its talks with the P5+1 six major world powers. They said the postponement of the deadline was an American plot and served its goals. General Rasool Sanai articulated the IRGC position vis-à-vis the talks by saying, “We are not against the principle of talks and the negotiation team but have issues with the way talks are used. The enemy wants to increase its sanctions against us. To confront the enemy we must stand on our feet, strengthen national unity and the spirit of cooperation. The important policy today is to follow resistance economy.”

 “We told you so” became an addition to the remarks of the Guards. Ali Saeedi said, “The most important issue facing the Islamic regime was the existence of two views inside the country: one, facing out the other facing in. The first wants to be absorbed in the world community while the other is rooted in the nature of the revolutionary regime in Iran and relies on what ayatollah Khomeini had charted and the current leader says.” “The first view emphasizes diplomacy while the second stresses on resistance.”

Another barrage of attacks catapulted towards the administration after foreign minister Zarif told a group of students at Alame Tabatabai University that “the talks had made the country more secure.”

Mohammad Ali Jaafari responded by saying that it was the “backbone of the defense and security apparatus that had brought security and not the one year talks.” But this point was soon drowned when Rouhani raised the issue of corruption and said, “If guns, money, newspapers, websites, and propaganda were conglomerated in one place then corruption would definitely take place,” words that were clearly directed at the Guards which had guns, money, etc.

The Guards came out defending themselves, while attacking Rouhani’s policies and administration.

When two Iranian Guard generals were killed in the Middle East, the latest by an Israeli air strike, the Guards used the occasion to their advantage. Since both of the commanders had also been participants in the eight-year war with Iraq, they were popular among the regular Guard cadre. Many memorials were held for them, and the occasion was used to unite critics and supporters to attack the US and Israel. This is also the period when general Soleymani was again elevated to the status of a “hero” and an “angel.”

Speaking at a gathering of war veterans, the cultural deputy of the IRGC defended the Guards and justified its foreign presence by saying, “If we do not (choose to) confront them at the fronts out there, we must pay a high price of fighting them inside our borders.”

As the year 1393 was coming to its end (March 20, 2015), cleric Saeedi issued another warning that if the red lines in the talks were not respected then the responsible individuals would face the wrath of God. He said the value of a person rested in his obedience to the line of the supreme leader.

In the final days of 1393, the Guards engaged in economic issues and attached Rouhani’s administration on its policies. It is clear that Rouhani’s goal of “constructively interacting with the world” is distasteful to the IRGC leaders who were busy all year round throwing sticks into the government’s cogwheels. Rouhani created a very tough and unpleasant year for the Guards. And in view of their political ambitions, it is hard not to see more fights and confrontations as the elections for the next Majlis and the Assembly of Experts on Leadership approach this year, and that is not to mention the possible resolution of the nuclear issue.