The IRGC is not defending Iran, it's exporting the Islamic revolution

Western diplomats and analysts err by treating the Islamic Republic of Iran as a conventional nation-state driven by national interests, according to Tina Ghazimorad in an opinion piece. Instead, the author argues, the Islamic Republic functions as a transnational revolutionary movement that has co-opted Iran's geography and resources to serve as a command headquarters for exporting fundamentalist ideology.

At the heart of this system is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Ghazimorad asserts is not merely serving the regime but *is* the regime. The author contends that the constitution itself betrays the nation's interests, explicitly defining the military's mission as fulfilling the ideological goal of jihad to spread God's law globally and support oppressed groups. This revolutionary mandate, Ghazimorad suggests, transforms Iran into a base for a global insurgency rather than a homeland.

The IRGC's rise is traced back to the 1979 revolution, born from a paranoia towards the Shah's Western-oriented military. Initially proposed as an ideologically loyal paramilitary force to protect the revolution, the IRGC's mission was deliberately framed as "Islamic" to emphasize its theological purpose over national defense. The Islamists quickly consolidated power, purging their allies and establishing a "parallel state" within the IRGC. This parallel structure gradually undermined and hollowed out Iran's official institutions, including the regular military (Artesh), the national police, intelligence services, and the economy, effectively making the IRGC the dominant power.