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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — At least five commanders of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps were killed and dozens of others left dead and injured in two terrorist bombings in the restive region of the nation’s southeastern frontier with Pakistan, according to multiple Iranian state news agencies. The coordinated attacks appeared to mark an escalation in hostilities between Iran’s leadership and one of the nation’s many disgruntled ethnic and religious minorities, in this case the Baluchis. The southeast region, Sistan-Baluchistan, has been the scene of terrorist attacks in the past, and in April the government put the Guards Corps in...

TEHRAN, Iran – A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the powerful Revolutionary Guard and at least 37 others Sunday near the Pakistani border in the heartland of a potentially escalating Sunni insurgency. The attack — which also left dozens wounded — was the most high-profile strike against security forces in an outlaw region of armed tribal groups, drug smugglers and Sunni rebels known as Jundallah, or Soldiers of God. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad promised sharp retaliation. But a sweeping offensive by authorities is unlikely. Iranian officials have been reluctant to open full-scale military operations in the southeastern border zone,...

A suicide bomber killed five senior commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guard and at least 26 others

Iran has warned it will take revenge against the US and Britain, accusing them of being involved in a suicide bombing that killed several Revolutionary Guard commanders. Six senior commanders and dozens of civilians died in the attack. The headquarters of the armed forces blamed the bombing on "terrorists" backed by "the Great Satan America and its ally Britain", the semi-official Fars News Agency reported. "Not in the distant future we (Iran) will take revenge." Earlier, Iranian state television said Sunni rebels carried out the bombing. It said the militant group Jundallah (Soldiers of God) had claimed responsibility for the...

The IRNA news agency said the dead included the deputy commander of the Guard's ground force, Gen. Noor Ali Shooshtari, as well as a chief provincial Guard commander for the area, Rajab Ali Mohammadzadeh. The other dead were Guard members or local tribal leaders. Dozens of others were wounded, the report said. The commanders were inside a car on their way to a meeting in the Pishin region near Iran's border with Pakistan when an attacker with explosives blew himself up, IRNA said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the region in Iran's southeast has been at the...

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's official news agency is reporting that at least five senior commanders of the elite Revolutionary Guard have been killed in a homicide bombing in southeastern Iran

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's list of cabinet nominees reveals a determination to fill the top positions in Iran's government from a coterie of loyal men, plus three women, many of whom are strongly linked to the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). Under Ahmadinejad's previous administration there was a distinct militarisation of politics: many ministers, as well as ambassadors, mayors, provincial governors and senior bureaucrats, were drawn from the guards. Ahmadinejad himself is widely associated with the IRGC, but in an interview his adviser insisted that the president had never been a member and was present only "when necessary" (although when pressed the adviser...

Why Iran's Changed Forever Reuel Marc Gerecht: Whatever Happens In Tehran, There's No Going Back To Khomeini's Islamic Republic. Who's Who Iran's Election: Key Players A look at the most important figures in Iran's contested presidential election. Stories Candidate Withdraws Iran Fraud Complaint Intensified Crackdown Mutes Iran Protests (Weekly Standard) Reuel Marc Gerecht, a Weekly Standard contributing editor, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The modern Middle East has had numerous "game-changing" moments, when history turned. Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt in 1798, Muhammad Ali's conquest of the Nile Valley in 1805, and the...

One of the founders of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, who's also a former deputy prime minister, tells Weekend Edition's Scott Simon that what amounts to a "military coup" has occurred in his country. And he claims authorities know the election was rigged.

There is chatter in some quarters that the Iranian ‘green revolution' may be petering out. Well, it depends whom you’re reading. The Iran expert Michael Ledeen says he has no idea what’s going to happen. But there are signs that the regime is preparing for an all-out assault; and that they are panicking and the ayatollahs are at odds amongst themselves; and that, most interestingly of all, this: ...that there are cracks in the regime’s edifice, ranging from declarations of small groups of Revolutionary Guards calling on their brothers to defect to “the people,” to a phenomenon that is just...

Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard are showing "discontent," according to the former crown prince of Iran, as the U.S. Navy sits back in "non-incident mode" in the Persian Gulf. The U.S. Department of Defense is "on edge" over the turmoil in Iran, and has directed U.S. naval assets in the Persian Gulf to be, in layman's terms, in "non-incident mode," military officials told FOX News Monday. Meanwhile, the former crown prince of Iran contended that members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard are showing "discontent" and some are "contemplating the contingency" of defying the regime in the wake of the Islamic Republic's...

A commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has been arrested for refusing to obey Iran's Supreme Leader, according to reports from the Balatarin website. General Ali Fazli, who was recently appointed as a commander of the Revolutionary Guards in the province of Tehran, is reported to have been arrested after he refused to carry out orders from the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to use force on people protesting the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Fazli, a veteran of the devastating Iran-Iraq war is also believed to have been sacked and taken to an unknown location. The Revolutionary Guards...

The moment of truth has come in Iran.  The Guardian Council and Ali Khamenei have played their last card — and it might be a trump.  The Revolutionary Guard has now threatened to meet the protestors in the streets and give them a “revolutionary confrontation”: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is threatening to crush any further opposition protests over the disputed presidential election and warns demonstrators to prepare for a “revolutionary confrontation” if they take to the streets again.The country’s most powerful military force ordered demonstrators to “end the sabotage and rioting activities” and said their resistance is a “conspiracy” against Iran.A...

A commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has been arrested for refusing to obey Iran's Supreme Leader, according to reports from the Balatarin. General Ali Fazli, who was recently appointed as a commander of the Revolutionary Guards in the province of Tehran, is reported to have been arrested after he refused to carry out orders from the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to use force on people protesting the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Fazli, a veteran of the devastating Iran-Iraq war is also believed to have been sacked and taken to an unknown location. The Revolutionary Guards is...

Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard are showing "discontent" and some are "contemplating the contingency" of defying the regime in the wake of last week's disputed election, the former crown prince of Iran contended Monday. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense is "on edge" over the turmoil in Iran, and has directed U.S. naval assets in the Persian Gulf to be, in layman's terms, in "non-incident mode." U.S. military commanders are said to have been instructed to be alert to any possibility of a clash with Iranian naval assets, and to position themselves in such a way as to diminish the...

The country's highest electoral authority, the Guardian Council, acknowledged on Monday that there were voting irregularities in 50 electoral districts, the most serious official admission so far of problems in the election. But the council insisted the problems do not affect the outcome of the vote. Earlier Monday, the elite Revolutionary Guard issued its sternest warning so far in the post-election crisis. It warned protesters to "be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the Guards, Basij and other security forces and disciplinary forces" if they continue their near-daily rallies. The Basij, a plainclothes militia under the command of...

Report: Members of Iranian Revolutionary Guard arrested for joining 'people's movement' According to Cyrus News Agency (CNA) in Iran, at least 16 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly attempting to join the "people's movement." Protests, riots and violence broke out in several cities in Iran on Saturday night following an election which many in Iran and the world say was fraudulent. "These commanders have been in contact with members of the Iranian army to join the people's movement. Three of the commanders are veterans of Iran-Iraq war. They have been moved to an undisclosed...

Thousands of Iranian Revolutionary Guardsmen deployed for crackdown on opposition DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 17, 2009, 9:17 PM (GMT+02:00) Iran's Special Police Forces on the ready Wednesday afternoon, June 17, armored convoys of Revolutionary Guard forces began rolling into Tehran from three directions to prevent supporters of the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi assembling on the fifth day after the disputed presidential election, DEBKAfile's Iranian sources report. Special IRGC forces and police units are being flown in. Hundreds of opposition activities have been arrested, including some economic experts who criticized president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's policies in recent months, after three reformist...

Iran's President Ahmadinejad, a veteran of the Islamic Republic's repressive Revolutionary Guard, took office on August 3, 2005, after unexpected win in a sham presidential election -- there are no democratic elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran. All candidates are prescreened by the Guardian Council before they are allowed to run for office. In practice, a president of Iran is already chosen through a farce process of giving the voters a chance to elect one of the men hand-picked from the regime's functionaries, as was the case with President Ahmadinejad. During the previous "election," only a small percentage of...

According to the Cyrus News Agency, Tuesday morning 16 senior members of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps were arrested. "These commanders have been in contact with members of the Iranian army to join the people's movement," CNA reports.