The Other Iranian Army: Understanding the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps
A Brown Bag Seminar with Maryam Alemzadeh
November 13, 2019
Missed the seminar? Watch it here.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was established shortly after the Iranian Revolution in 1979 as a parallel to the army. Since then, it is seen as an integral part of Iran's post-revolutionary state. Yet despite its importance, much of the IRGC's decision making processes and organizational structure remains opaque to the outside world. In this talk, Maryam Alemzadeh focuses on the first years after the establishment of the IRGC in order to shed light on these issues. Specifically, she examines the ways in which the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) shaped the IRGC as we know it today. The talk is a part of Alemzadeh’s ongoing book project on the evolution of the IRGC from its conception in 1979 to the peak of its military achievements in 1982.
Maryam Alemzadeh is the Harold Grinspoon Junior Research Fellow at the Crown Center.
Co-sponsored by the Islamic and Middle Eastern studies program