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  • IRGC

A man walks past an anti-USA and anti-Israel mural in Tehran on 8 April 2026. ATTA KENARE / AFP

'Unconditional surrender' was never an option for Iran

The IRGC doesn't just defend the state, it runs it. To wave the white flag wouldn't just mean giving up its arms; it would mean dismantling the organisation and its patronage networks.

Futoshi Matsumoto 12 April 2026
Eduardo Ramon

In a leaderless system, these men now govern Iran

Security is the name of the game in Iran these days, and a small huddle of men steeped in the defence of the regime are now seen as central to decision-making in the absence of a visible cleric.

Al Majalla - London 09 April 2026
A man walks past a billboard displaying photos of senior Iranian leaders and scientists killed in Israeli strikes, Tehran, June 13, 2025. AP

The rise and fall of Iranian intelligence

Tehran's spies and generals built an impressive network of eyes and ears from Mount Lebanon to the Hindu Kush. In a game of cat-and-mouse, they always seemed two moves ahead. Not so now.

Kamal Alam 24 June 2025
Emergency personnel extinguish a fire at the site of strikes which hit a building next to the Iranian embassy in Damascus on 1 April 2024. AFP

The last red line: Iran consulate strike shows the gloves are off

Israel targets Iranian sovereign territory and wipes out some of the Islamic Republic's most senior generals, virtually guaranteeing a response. The nature of that response will reveal a lot.

Charles Lister 01 April 2024
Across MENA, the proliferation of militias combines corruption, smuggling, looting, intimidation, and parasitism to swell their coffers at the expense of state treasuries. Mona Eing

The militia economy in the Middle East

Across MENA, the proliferation of militias combines corruption, smuggling, looting, intimidation, and parasitism to swell their coffers at the expense of state treasuries.

Khaled Kassar 09 February 2024
While enormously powerful and extensive, the regime’s security apparatus is facing its strongest internal challenge yet from domestic protesters. Andrei Cojocaru

The Iranian security machine: Will it win?

Iran's regime has continuously developed its capabilities required to deal with a full range of threats — from foreign military aggression, espionage and subversion to localised, civil unrest

John Raine 01 February 2023
Members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) attend an IRGC ground forces military drill in the Aras area, East Azerbaijan province, Iran, October 17, 2022. IRGC/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

UK to Proscribe IRGC as a Terrorist Organisation

An announcement is expected within weeks that the British government is going to officially declare Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation. The move is said to be…

Suzan Quitaz 13 January 2023
Members of exiled Komala Party inspect aftermath of bombing in the village of Zrgoiz, near Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, where the bases of several Iranian opposition groups are located, Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. An Iranian drone bombing campaign targeting the bases of an Iranian-Kurdish opposition group in northern Iraq has killed nd wounded dozens. (AP PhotoAla Hoshyar, Metrography)

Iran’s Biggest Fear: An Independent Kurdistan

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has frequently violated Iraqi sovereignty by firing missiles and drones at a number of targets in Iraq’s semi-autonomous northern Kurdistan region (KRG…

Suzan Quitaz 30 December 2022
Men hold up signs depicting the image of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iranian authorities, during a demonstration denouncing her death by Iraqi and Iranian Kurds outside the UN offices in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on September 24, 2022. (AFP)

Iran’s Protests: A Never-Ending Outrage

The Iranian protests which have entered their third month are demonstrating the perseverance and bravery of the people from all classes and regions who united to rise up against the regime…

Firoozeh Nordstrom 02 December 2022
In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police last month, in Tehran, October 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Middle East Images, File)

IRGC’s Final Warning – “Today is Last Day of Riots”

On Saturday, 29 October, Hossein Salami, the Commander of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), issued a threatening warning to protesters, “Do not come to the streets! Today is…

Suzan Quitaz 04 November 2022
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A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter affiliated with Iran's separatist Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), mans a position north of Kirkuk, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. Safin Hamid/AFP
Politics

Why Iran’s militant Kurds stayed out of the US-Iran war

31 May 2026

In March there was talk of armed Kurdish fighters opening a second front in Iran's north-west, but it never happened—for several very good reasons.

Alex Vatanka
Raúl Castro was Cuban president from 2006 to 2018, having served as Minister for the Armed Forces from 1959 to 2008. AFP
Profiles

Raúl Castro: the soldier who made Fidel’s revolution endure

31 May 2026

Fidel's brother built Cuba's armed forces and took over the presidency when his more charismatic sibling fell ill two decades ago. A recent US indictment from a 1996 incident now asks new questions.

Stefanie Butendieck Hijerra
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif shake hands at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, on 25 May 2026. Reuters
Politics

How Pakistan became China’s indispensable intermediary

01 June 2026

With war closing the Strait of Hormuz, Islamabad has become both broker and bridge, mediating between rivals while keeping Beijing's overland trade routes alive

Shirley Ze Yu
SARA GIRONI CARNEVALE
Business & Economy

How AI is changing the nature of work

01 June 2026

Some predict 'the end of jobs,' others a 'jobs apocalypse,' but optimists think people will adapt and get paid to do different things. Amidst war and mountains of debt, is AI a help or a harbinger?

Abdel-Rahman Ayas
Turkish drilling vessel Cagri Bey, which is set to conduct Turkiye's first deep-sea drilling operation docks in the Indian Ocean near the Mogadishu sea port in Mogadishu, Somalia April 10, 2026. Reuters / Feisal Omar
Business & Economy

Türkiye’s proposed maritime bill risks reigniting old rivalries

01 June 2026

The Exclusive Economic Zone risks reopening disputes over energy, maritime claims, and influence in the Eastern Mediterranean

Amr Emam

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Al Majalla - London
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Russia’s timely reminder of its vast nuclear arsenal

Khattar Abu Diab
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