IRGC leader takes control of Iran’s military as US tensions rise
A US Navy destroyer intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo ship within the Strait of Hormuz, firing into its engine room after repeated warnings. Following a six-hour standoff, US Marines took custody of the vessel. President Donald Trump issued stern warnings, threatening to ‘take out their bridges and energy crops’ if ongoing peace talks fail, as Iran’s hardline IRGC chief consolidates navy management.
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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite department of the Iranian Armed Forces, has blocked President Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidential appointments and erected what sources described as a safety cordon round Supreme Chief Mojtaba Khamenei, a report printed Tuesday by Iran Worldwide stated.
The IRGC successfully has assumed management over key state capabilities, the report claimed.
“It was at all times a matter of when, not if, the IRGC was going to step ahead much more than it has within the final three a long time,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program on the Basis for Protection of Democracies, instructed Fox Information Digital.
Pezeshkian has reached a “full political impasse” as tensions between his administration and the navy management deepen, according to the report.
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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite department of the Iranian Armed Forces, has blocked President Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidential appointments, a brand new report says. (John Lamparski/Getty Photos)
The reported shift might have main penalties far past Iran.
Analysts say a extra highly effective IRGC probably would imply a extra confrontational Iran, much less keen to compromise in talks with Washington and extra inclined to proceed navy escalation throughout the area. With U.S.-Iran negotiations already faltering and uncertainty rising over whether or not Tehran will even ship negotiators to the following spherical of talks, the rise of the Revolutionary Guard raises contemporary doubts about who really is making choices in Iran and whether or not any civilian official can nonetheless converse for the regime.
“But it surely’s a mistake to imagine that is some form of coup,” Ben Taleblu stated. “This has been the method in Iran for years now, because the regime has chosen battle over cooperation and emboldened its safety forces at each juncture.”
Pezeshkian’s latest effort to nominate a brand new intelligence minister collapsed after direct stress from IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi, sources instructed Iran Worldwide, arguing that every one proposed candidates, together with former Protection Minister Hossein Dehghan, had been rejected.
FILE- Members of the Iranian revolutionary guard march throughout a parade. The IRGC is designated as a international terrorist group by the State Division. A big a part of its work is to covertly function outdoors of Iran. (Reuters)
Vahidi reportedly insisted that underneath wartime circumstances, all crucial and delicate positions have to be chosen and managed immediately by the Revolutionary Guard till additional discover.
“By any customary, Vahidi is taken into account a radical even throughout the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the photographs,” Lisa Daftari, international coverage analyst and journalist, instructed Fox Information Digital.
Underneath Iran’s system, the president historically nominates an intelligence minister solely after securing approval from the supreme chief. However with the condition and whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei unclear in latest weeks, the IRGC seems to be more and more appearing with out civilian oversight.
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RGC commander Ahmad Vahidi reportedly insisted that underneath wartime circumstances, all crucial and delicate positions have to be chosen and managed immediately by the Revolutionary Guard till additional discover. (Morteza Nikoubazl/Nur Picture through Getty Photos)
The report claims Pezeshkian repeatedly has sought an pressing assembly with Mojtaba Khamenei however has been unable to determine contact.
As a substitute, in line with Iran Worldwide, a “military council” made up of senior IRGC officers now controls entry to the middle of energy, stopping authorities reviews from reaching Mojtaba and successfully isolating him from the elected authorities.
Nonetheless, analysts say the reported energy wrestle displays an extended development in Iran, the place the Revolutionary Guard has steadily expanded its affect over politics, the financial system, and nationwide safety.
Ben Taleblu argued that Pezeshkian’s apparent sidelining shouldn’t be seen as a dramatic break from the previous as a result of the president by no means exercised vital unbiased authority.
“Those that fear about Pezeshkian’s potential sidelining want to contemplate what he realistically was or wasn’t capable of do mere months in the past when the regime slaughtered 40,000 Iranians within the streets,” he stated.
Pezeshkian, elected in 2025 on guarantees of moderation and reform, has repeatedly discovered himself constrained by the safety institution and the clerical management.
The most recent report means that dynamic has intensified dramatically as Iran faces rising exterior stress and internal uncertainty.
One of the placing claims entails Ali Asghar Hejazi, a robust safety official contained in the workplace of the supreme chief.
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A banner that includes Iran’s new Supreme Chief Mojtaba Khamenei and senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is displayed in Tehran, Iran, March 14, 2026. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu through Getty Photos)
A few of Mojtaba Khamenei’s associates at the moment are making an attempt to push Hejazi out as a result of he opposed Mojtaba succeeding his father, in line with Iran Worldwide.
The report stated Hejazi warned members of the Meeting of Consultants that Mojtaba lacked the {qualifications} to change into supreme chief and that hereditary succession would violate the ideas laid out by Ali Khamenei.
Hejazi reportedly additionally warned that placing Mojtaba in energy would successfully hand the nation to the Revolutionary Guard and completely sideline civilian establishments.
That warning more and more seems to replicate what’s already occurring.
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Analysts say the newest developments counsel the IRGC is now not working behind the scenes, however is brazenly rising because the dominant drive in Tehran. (AFP/By way of Getty Photos)
The Revolutionary Guard, created after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to defend the regime, has lengthy developed far past a navy drive. It now controls main sections of Iran’s financial system, oversees the nation’s missile and nuclear applications, and exerts affect throughout almost each department of presidency.
Analysts say the newest developments counsel the IRGC is now not working behind the scenes, however is brazenly rising as the dominant force in Tehran.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to remark.
