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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Iran
Index
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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