Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards march during a military parade to commemorate the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war in Tehran September 22, 2007. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo
Reuters: Iran's Revolutionary Guards position for power
Iran's Revolutionary Guards look set to entrench their power and shift the country to more hardline, isolationist policies for years to come following the death of influential powerbroker Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
Former president Rafsanjani long had a contentious relationship with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is both the strongest military force in Iran and also has vast economic interests worth billions of dollars.
With a presidential election in May and a question mark over the health of Iran's most powerful figure, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, analysts say the Guards will soon have opportunities to tighten their grip on the levers of power.
Rafsanjani, who died on Sunday aged 82, had criticized the Guards' expanding economic interests, which range from oil and gas to telecommunications and construction, their role in the crackdown on protests after disputed 2009 presidential elections and the country's missile program which the Guards oversee.
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WNU Editor: This talk from the West about Iran's Revolutionary Guards reminds me of the same discussions that were made on the role of the KGB/military/etc. when the Soviet Union still existed. These Soviet institutions did have an influence, but in the end it was always the Communist Party's hierarchy that decided who was going to be in the Politburo and its leader. Same for China .... and I can only assume that in the case of Iran .... the country's religious leaders will be the deciding factor on who will become Supreme leader when that day finally arrives.
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