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Iran
Organization and Functions
According to a classified report captured and released by the
students who occupied the United States embassy in Tehran, initially
the Pasdaran was planned as an organization that would be directly
subordinate to the ruling clerics of the Revolution. According
to this report, the Revolutionary Council in 1979 was composed
of 12 members and the Pasdaran of 30,000 members, divided as follows:
Central Council of Saltanatabad, Tehran, 4,000 members; Provincial
Command, 20,000; other commands for border checkpoints and key
areas, 3,000; and a training center at Aliabad, 3,000. The commander
of the Pasdaran was Ayatollah Lahuti and its chiefs of staff were
Hojjatoleslams Hashemi-Rafsanjani and Gholam Ali Afrouz.
From this modest beginning, the Pasdaran became a formidable
force. According to the International Institute for Strategic
Studies, in 1986 the Pasdaran consisted of 350,000 personnel organized
in battalion-size units that operated either independently or
with units of the regular armed forces. In 1986 the Pasdaran acquired
small naval and air elements, and it has claimed responsibility
for hit-and-run raids on shipping in the Persian Gulf. Darting
out from bases on a chain of small islands in Swedish-built speedboats
equipped with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, the
Pasdaran has established a naval zone in northern Gulf waters.
Hosain Alai, the Pasdaran naval commander, announced on April
27, 1987, that the Pasdaran was in "full control" of certain portions
of Gulf waters and would continue to operate from Farsi Island,
between Iran and Saudi Arabia, as well as from Sirri, Abu Musa,
and Larak islands. At that time 200 Pasdaran pilots reportedly
were in training in East Germany.
According to the Muslim Student Followers of the Iman's Line,
the Pasdaran, under the guidance of such clerics as Lahuti and
Hashemi-Rafsanjani, was also "to act as the eyes and ears of the
Islamic Revolution" and "as a special task force of the Imam (see
Glossary) Khomeini to crush any counterrevolutionary activities
within the government or any political usurper against [the] Islamic
Government." Over the years the IRP's leadership used the Pasdaran
to eliminate opposition figures and to enhance its own position.
Using the Pasdaran as a springboard to more important positions,
Pasdaran leaders could always obtain access to the Revolutionary
Council and Khomeini. For example, President Khamenehi and Majlis
speaker Hashemi-Rafsanjani were both former commanders of the
Pasdaran.
Data as of December 1987
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