Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini controlled the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) by assigning personal representatives and commissars to IRGC units and offices. Initially, the system was dysfunctional because of multiple commissars and parallel control structures with overlapping responsibilities, but at the beginning of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s rule, the commissars consolidated their positions and exerted enough power to help stymie political reforms. Today, the system is again weak, and, increasingly, the commissars act more as spokesmen for the guards than as agents overseeing the IRGC and ensuring that the supreme leader holds power over the IRGC. This change undermines Khamenei’s authority over the IRGC and has allowed the IRGC greater autonomy to the detriment of outsiders who would engage the regime.

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Key points in this Outlook:

• The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is slowly taking over Iran.
• While commissars should represent the supreme leader to the IRGC, today it seems they are speaking for the IRGC instead of overseeing the guards and ensuring the supreme leader’s power.
• This has given the IRGC more autonomy within the country, a change that may hinder outsiders’ efforts to engage the regime.