Are The Revolutionary Guards Becoming The Power Brokers In Iran?
Martin McCauley writes: ‘Power comes from the barrel of a gun,’ is one of the key quotes of Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People’s Republic of China. He proved it during a civil war against Chiang Kai-shek’s Guomindang nationalists which lasted almost 20 years. Fidel Castro’s takeover of Cuba in 1959 was the result of militarily defeating the incumbent government. Ho Chi Min did the same in Vietnam. Indeed, it is rare to find a successful communist revolution which does not result from armed might. The communist coup in Czechoslovakia, in February 1948, is a rare exception. It was possible because of the inept social democrat government.Fast forward to Iran. Every revolution needs armed forces to defend it from its external and domestic enemies. After the Iranian Islamic Revolution of 1979, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini set up the Revolutionary Guard Corps (RGC) to do just that. Its commander in chief is appointed by the Supreme Leader and is only answerable to him
