Word: pasdaran
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Less corrupt but far more menacing than the traditional authorities are the Pasdaran, or Revolutionary Guards, who constantly patrol the streets. Says a young Iranian Jew who fled to Israel: "They stop you if they do not like your looks or if they have the slightest suspicion that you are not obeying the rules of Islam. If you go hand in hand with your wife, they will stop you and force you to show them your marriage license. If you do not have the document, you will be arrested." In the minds of many Iranians, the Revolutionary Guards have taken...
...gather to shout anti-American slogans and epithets of Islamic fervor, especially when cameramen are on hand. This world also includes the universities and technical schools, the late-night meetings of the supreme Revolutionary Council, the intraoffice struggles within many government ministries and the intense rivalry between the new Pasdaran revolutionary militia and the now eclipsed armed forces...
...regular army division? Either because the army did not have a unit that was deemed capable of doing the job, or because the government does not altogether trust the army. Suspicion that the army has not yet proved its loyalty is a basic motive behind the formation of the Pasdaran (literally, Guardians), the revolutionary militia...
...army was entrusted with the task of training and equipping the Pasdaran, an assignment the army deeply resented for two reasons: the army itself faced a shortage of equipment and a cutback in supplies, while the Pasdaran had a seemingly limitless budget. Army leaders did not hide their satisfaction when the Pasdaran, basically an urban force, fared badly in mountain warfare against the Kurds. The army, by contrast, refused to be drawn into hit-and-run encounters with the insurgents...
...rivalry between the army and the Pasdaran has not deterred the revolutionary regime from its aim of setting up an independent force whose loyalty is beyond question. Pasdaran units were flown to Tabriz from Tehran last month to quell unrest in Azerbaijan. At last count, the Pasdaran numbered about 20,000, or roughly two-thirds of its planned total strength...