Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Smuggling

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is often accused of engaging in lucrative cross-border smuggling, involved in smuggling drugs and alcohol. But this "smuggling" activity should not be thought of as petty criminal activity, but rather a natural expression of the deep state / state within a state status of the Pasdaran. Revenue from imported goods will either acrue to the state headed by the popularly elected President, and the army thereof, or it can go to the structures directly accountable to the Supreme Leader himself, such as the Revolutionary Guards. In either case, prices paid by consumers reflect explicit or virtual taxes to support one or the other parallel security structures.

The activity of the IRGC goes beyond the tasks defined for the armed forces. Today it effectively acts in politics, both internal and external, it performs special, specific tasks abroad. Possessing powerful financial and economic assets, the IRGC controls from 25% to 35% of the entire Iranian economy. The IRGC is currently a corporate association of purely military, intelligence, police repressive, political ideological, as well as financial and economic structures of modern Iran.

In fact, it is a multi-mega holding, led directly by the supreme leader and his environment. Today the IRGC is the backbone of the statehood of the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is a state within a state. "If you want to get things to and from Iran without paying excise duty, they are the people to go to," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-Israeli analyst. "No big businessman in Iran is truly independent of them or the government."

The IRGC is engaged in covertly moving arms and combatants across borders, and illegally smuggling Western military technology into Iran. The IRGC is engaged in illegally obtaining U.S. military products, sensitive dual-use technology, weapons of mass destruction, or chemical and nuclear materials. The illicit transfer or trafficking of products across international borders - including the violation of US or international sanctions, illicit transfer and smuggling of materials for weapons of mass destruction and arms trafficking - is intended to undermine US national security objectives of isolating Iran. Regional and international networks of front companies, unethical businessmen, and crime groups help evade trade, military, and financial sanctions by facilitating clandestine shipments of embargoed products, including weapons, and executing financial transfers.

The Guard has evolved and built a powerful military-industrial-financial complex. And they have not limited themselves to the normal economy. The IRGC has expanded Iran's underground economy and its own control over it, building a mafia cartel in the process. the Guard has evolved and built a powerful military-industrial-financial complex. And they have not limited themselves to the normal economy. The IRGC has expanded Iran's underground economy and its own control over it, building a mafia cartel in the process. The Guards are no strangers to the underworld. In Iran, they control it.

Saeed Ghasseminejad noted "The IRGC is Iran's chief smuggler. In the early 2000s, Mehdi Karroubi, the former speaker of parliament, complained about unauthorized ports under IRGC control that are used to smuggle goods. Ahmadinejad, who is Karroubi's arch politically enemy, also called the IRGC "our smuggler brothers." The IRGC controls Iran's sea, air, and land borders. It controls ports, airports, and roads, and does not shy away from using them to smuggle goods and line its pockets."

President of Iran, on 11 July 2011, at a conference on "New Strategies for the Prevention and Combating of Smuggling of Goods and Currency" in Tehran, emphasizing the necessity of closing all illegal border crossings in Iran, said that even defense, security or intelligence It must also enter the legal boundary. Previously, several times the unauthorized commercial activity was mentioned in some of the ports and basins controlled by the Revolutionary Guard, but Mr. Ahmadinejad implicitly criticized not only the activation of these bases, but also stated: "This It's a mistake that everyone will pierce a place and take it for itself." The president's use of the term "our own smuggler brothers", as the illegal entry of a massive amount of cigararettes was also considered a shame for the members of the Revolutionary Guard.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, which has been assigned the task of tackling commodity smuggling in the Persian Gulf, will support the administration in the broader war on smuggling, the IRGC spokesperson said 04 March 2018. General Ramezan Sharif said Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has assigned the IRGC the job of combating the smuggling of commodities in the Persian Gulf. “One of the paths for the entrance of contraband into the country is the sea borders,” the general noted, saying that the IRGC’s extensive and active presence along the southern borders would be of great help in anti-smuggling efforts.

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) seized the largest smuggled fuel in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a military commander on 10 April 2019. IRGC forces confiscated over 12.5 million liters of smuggled fuel in a 10,000-ton ship, the largest amount seized so far, commander Alireza Tangsiri said. Some 21 people were arrested in a "successful” operation targeting a major smuggling band, Tangsiri said.