The United States launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and the militias they back, in retaliation for an attack blamed on an Iran-backed militia that killed three U.S. service members.
Iran’s foreign ministry condemned overnight U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as “violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity” of the two countries.
Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani, in a statement, said the attacks represented “another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension in instability in the region”.
The U.S. military launched airstrikes against more than 85 targets linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) and the militias it backs, in retaliation for the recent drone attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. troops.
IRGC was set up shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to protect the Shi’ite clerical ruling system and provide a counterweight to the regular armed forces that ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution, did not trust.
IRGC answers to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The IRGC has an estimated 125,000-strong military with army, navy and air units and commands the Basij religious militia, a volunteer paramilitary force loyal to the clerical establishment.
The Quds Force is the IRGC’s foreign intelligence and paramilitary arm that heavily influences its allied militias across the Middle East, from Lebanon to Iraq and Yemen to Syria. Its members have fought in support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria’s civil war and have backed Iraqi security forces in their battle against Islamic State militants in recent years.
Former Revolutionary Guards officers occupy key positions in Iran’s political establishment, from the government to parliament. Most of President Ebrahim Raisi’s cabinet are former IRGC officers.
Also, in economy, the IRGC became heavily involved in Iran’s various economic and reconstruction projects and has expanded its economic interests into a vast network of businesses, ranging from oil and gas projects to construction and telecommunication.
