The death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has once again brought the focus on the role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as the fulcrum of the survival of the regime.
Raisi became president in 2021. The IRGC had already acquired control over more than half of Iran's economy. However, since Raisi came to power, the IRGC penetrated more deeply into various government institutions.
International calls to designate IRGC as a terrorist organization increased in volume after it killed as many as 1,500 people in shootings during a nationwide, anti-regime uprising in November 2019. Its paramilitary arm, the Basij, carried out the vast majority of the 750 deaths of participants in another uprising that began in September 2022.
