Iranian Entity: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

According to the U.S. State Department, involved in planning and support for terrorist acts and groups; on October 25, 2007, added to the Specially Designated National (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), freezing its assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibiting transactions with U.S. parties pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems; identified by the British government in February 1998 as having procured goods and/or technology for weapons of mass destruction programs, in "addition to doing non-proliferation related business;" military force created following the 1979 revolution; originally entrusted with internal security; considered separate from the regular armed forces; includes Ground Forces, Air Forces (see separate entity record), Navy, Qods Force (special operations - see separate entity record), and Basij (Popular Mobilization Army); reportedly has approximately 125,000 troops and 40,000 active duty troops in the Basij; reportedly supervises some 400 Iranian nuclear experts, in order to prevent the release of sensitive information about Iran's nuclear program; the Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile reportedly was delivered to the IRCG in July 2003; reportedly oversees work on the "Shafagh" subsonic trainer and attack aircraft; also has a counterintelligence directorate; runs prisons and has economic interests in defense production, construction and the oil industry.

Owns or controls Khatam-al-Anbia Construction Headquarters, Oriental Oil Kish, Ghorb Nooh, Sahel Consultant Engineering, Ghorb-e Karbala, Sepasad Engineering Co., Omran Sahel, Hara Company and Gharargahe Sazandegi Ghaem (see separate entity records); according to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), owns the Hemat industrial complex, where the medium-range Shahab-4 missile is allegedly assembled; also allegedly controls the "Jam" missile development project, based at the Chamran Air Force Base near Jam, about 880 km south of Tehran; according to the NCRI, extraterritorial missions of the IRGC are commanded and executed by the Special Qods Force, which is led by Brigadier General Ghassem Soleimani (see separate entity record); according to the NCRI, involved in attempts to produce beryllium domestically.

Commanded by Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari as of September 1, 2007 (see separate entity record); key IRGC persons identified by the European Union on June 24, 2008 as entities of proliferation concern include: Brigadier-General Javad Darvish-Vand (Deputy for Inspection for MODAFL, Ministry of Defense Armed Forces Logistics - see separate entity record), Brigadier-General Seyyed Mahdi Farahi (Managing Director of DIO, Defense Industries Organization - see separate entity record), Brigadier-General Ali Hoseynitash (Head of the General Department of the Supreme National Security Council), Brigadier-General Mostafa Mohammad Najjar (Minister of MODAFL), Brigadier-General Ali Shamshiri (MODAFL Deputy for Counter-Intelligence), and Brigadier-General Ahmad Vahidi (Deputy Head of MODAFL) (see separate entity records); additional key persons identified in an annex to U.N. Security Council resolution 1747 of March 24, 2007 include: Brigadier General Morteza Rezaie (Deputy Commander of IRGC), Vice Admiral Ali Akbar Ahmadian (most recently former Chief of IRGC Joint Staff), Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi (Commander of IRGC Ground Forces), Rear Admiral Morteza Safari (Commander of IRGC Navy), Brigadier General Mohammad Hejazi (most recently former Commander of Bassij resistance force), Brigadier General Qasem Soleimani (Commander of Qods force) and General Zolqadr (Deputy Interior Minister for Security Affairs) (see separate entity records); General Hosein Salimi (Commander of the IRGC Air Force) and Major General Yahya Rahim Safavi (former Commander of IRGC and advisor and senior aide to Iran's supreme leader for armed forces affairs) were identified in an annex to U.N. Security Council resolution 1737 of December 23, 2006 (see separate entity records).

Nuclear scientists and members of the IRGC, according to the NCRI, include: Mohsen Fakhri Zadeh (see separate entity record), in charge of nuclear activities for Iran's Ministry of Defense, Fereydoon Abbasi (see separate entity record) and Mansoor Asgari, both experts at the Modern Advanced Defensive Technology Center (see separate entity record); nuclear experts who work on the defense ministry's secret nuclear projects, according to the NCRI, include Dr. Muhammad Bagher Ghofrani, an enrichment expert and professor at Sharif University (see separate entity record), and Dr. Ali Abadi and Dr. Muhammad Hussein Ghezel Ayagh, both of Malek Ashtar University (see separate entity record).

In August 2005, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei selected Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari-Najafabadi to establish a new IRGC strategic studies institute.