Paramilitary force
Appears in 34 stories · Last updated Nov 11, 2026
Removed its self-imposed 2,000km ballistic missile range limit and signalled a possible revision of Iran's nuclear doctrine on Nov. 7
President Donald Trump said on Nov. 10 there was a 'good chance' of a deal with Iran and that the US would not launch a new offensive for now. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said sanctions were working so well that major combat operations were unnecessary, though he warned Iran against crossing 'red lines.'
Updated Yesterday
Said on November 8 that three tankers caught fire on routes it does not authorize, and on November 10 that two tankers hit naval mines in the strait. Earlier status lines unchanged.
Oil prices have fallen sharply. Brent touched $89.65 on November 10, its lowest since August 31, and traded near $92, about 23% below the October 30 peak near $118. President Trump said he would hold off on further strikes on Iran after appeals from regional countries, while keeping the US naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
Says three tankers hit mines on October 29 and a fourth supertanker on October 30; fired a missile at a US aircraft near Qeshm on November 2
Iran's parliament has still not voted on the bill that would write its Strait of Hormuz rules into law, and no date is set. On October 29, the Revolutionary Guard said three tankers caught fire after hitting mines in the strait; Iran's armed forces put the number at four. US Central Command denied that commercial ships were hitting mines in the main transit lanes.
Updated 2 days ago
Says it destroyed a 55th US MQ-9 drone on November 3; its air defenses on Qeshm Island were struck by US aircraft on consecutive nights through November 9.
The United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28, 2026, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and hitting nuclear and military sites. A 60-day ceasefire expired on August 18 without renewal, and Iran said it would shift to a 'fully offensive' military posture.
Orchestrated selection of Mojtaba Khamenei as new supreme leader; continuing protest executions and war operations alongside ceasefire negotiations
Iran's December 2025 uprising was crushed at enormous cost. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) verified 7,007 deaths in its February 23 report, including 6,488 adult protesters and 236 children.
Navy destroyed; fast boats, drones and missiles still active; Iranian Navy says a rogue tanker hit mines near Hormuz; IRGC Navy claims seven vessels hit and warns of wider response; threatens undersea cables if the US resumes attacks
Three U.S. carrier strike groups are in the region, and the Theodore Roosevelt group, with about 10,000 more personnel, is due by late November. On November 7 the U.S. military launched a task force meant to stop Iran moving weapons and other material overland, Al Jazeera reported.
Updated 3 days ago
Said on November 6 that its air defenses destroyed a US MQ-9 over Qeshm and on November 7 that a tanker hit mines east of the Strait of Hormuz
The US struck an Iranian air-defense device on Qeshm Island on November 6, and President Donald Trump called the operation 'minor.' Iran said its air defenses destroyed an American MQ-9 drone over the island, while US Central Command described the situation as 'relatively calm.'
Updated 4 days ago
Said on August 26 that Iran and Oman had agreed the terms of a safe-transit deal but that the strait would stay closed until Washington accepted Tehran's conditions
Iran said on November 2 that it could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days and restart nuclear talks, shortening a plan it had earlier said would take a week. The offer kept its conditions: the US must lift sanctions on Iranian oil, accept a ceasefire that covers Lebanon, and let ships use a route agreed with Oman under Iranian supervision.
Updated 6 days ago
Said four tankers hit mines in the Strait of Hormuz on October 30; CENTCOM says primary transit routes have been cleared.
Brent reached $116 a barrel by November 1 as OPEC met and Saudi Arabia's economy contracted 3.8% under the cost of the war and disrupted oil exports. Saudi Arabia restarted the East-West pipeline and resumed loadings at Yanbu in late September, but attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz kept traffic about 70% below prewar levels. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center recorded 144 maritime incidents in the Hormuz region since February 28, making October the worst month of the war.
Updated Nov 1
Named by Treasury as the beneficiary of Hormuz Safe's toll revenue
Iran started selling Bitcoin-priced insurance for Strait of Hormuz crossings in May. Treasury has since designated the platform, the state insurer behind it and a Tehran exchange it says moved the money to the Revolutionary Guard.
Updated Oct 23
As of September 2026: Directing Houthi operations per Yemeni, Iranian, and regional sources
Ship crossings through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait fell to 15 on Friday, half the previous day's total. Houthi rebels seized Perim Island that day, completing their takeover of the strait that carries 10 to 12 percent of global trade.
Updated Sep 12
As of August 2026: Alleged sponsor of some intrusions
For four years starting in 2013, Iranian operators used professors' stolen passwords to slip into US university networks and copy their research. On August 20, prosecutors expanded a 2018 case against the group behind it, adding eight names and bringing the total charged to 17.
Updated Aug 21
As of August 2026: Declared a 'fully offensive' military posture in the Strait of Hormuz after the memorandum expired; denies Trump's claim of a direct back-channel
The ceasefire draft that leaked in May became real on June 17, when Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed a memorandum of understanding by video call, giving both sides 60 days to reach a final deal. Iran agreed not to build nuclear weapons under the pact. The truce broke on July 13: Iran struck two UAE tankers in Omani waters with cruise missiles, killing an Indian crew member, and the US resumed strikes on Iran and reimposed its naval blockade.
Updated Aug 20
As of June 2026: Enforcing the closure of the Strait of Hormuz
For decades, every OPEC+ output decision had the United Arab Emirates in the room, usually pushing to pump more. On Sunday, ministers met in Vienna without it for the first time. The UAE's exit took effect May 1 and pulled about 3.5 million barrels a day out of the group's quota math.
Updated Jun 7
As of May 2026: Key power broker in post-Khamenei Iran; controls Strait of Hormuz closure
Japan imports 90% of its oil through the Strait of Hormuz, shut by Iran six weeks ago. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is attempting what her predecessor Shinzo Abe failed to do in 2019: talk Tehran down from the brink — but with far higher stakes and Trump's Tuesday deadline.
Updated May 30
As of May 2026: Conducting Operation True Promise IV missile campaign against Israel and US assets
The United States and Israel launched surprise airstrikes on Iran on February 28, 2026, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and triggering what Washington calls Operation Epic Fury. Iran has since fired more than 525 ballistic missiles at Israeli territory. Nearly half carried cluster warheads that scatter dozens of smaller bomblets across wide areas, a weapon type banned by over 100 nations.
As of May 2026: Conducting retaliatory strikes on US military and corporate targets across the Gulf
For decades, American tech companies built out massive data centers and office complexes across the Persian Gulf without ever treating them as potential military targets. On April 4, the IRGC struck Oracle's headquarters building in Dubai Internet City with a drone. It's part of a declared campaign against 18 US firms the IRGC accuses of supporting American and Israeli military operations.
As of May 2026: Accused of operating under diplomatic cover in Lebanon
Iran has stationed diplomats, intelligence officers, and Revolutionary Guard operatives in Lebanon for more than four decades, building Hezbollah into the most powerful non-state military force in the Middle East. On March 24, 2026, Lebanon's foreign ministry told Iran's newly appointed ambassador-designate to leave the country within five days — the first time Beirut has ever expelled an Iranian envoy.
As of May 2026: Conducting retaliatory operations against US, Israeli, and allied targets
For nearly a decade, Iran insisted it had deliberately capped its ballistic missile range at 2,000 kilometers—enough to hit Israel and American bases in the Middle East but not Europe. On March 21, 2026, Iran fired two missiles 4,000 kilometers at Diego Garcia, a US-UK military base; one failed in flight, another was intercepted by a warship, yet Iran proved its range was double its former claim.
As of May 2026: Created Persian Gulf Strait Authority (PGSA) on May 5; exchanged fire with US Navy destroyers on May 7; enforcing Vessel Information Declaration requirements for all strait transits
Iran shut the Strait of Hormuz on February 28, 2026, after US-Israeli strikes, cutting off roughly a fifth of global oil supply. The US-Iran ceasefire, extended by Trump on April 21, holds formally. But Iran's May 10 counter-proposal demanded Iranian sovereignty over the strait, an end to all US sanctions, and an immediate lifting of the naval blockade. Trump called the response "totally unacceptable," and roughly 1,500 commercial vessels remain trapped inside the Persian Gulf.
As of May 2026: Command structure severely degraded; interim council and remaining branches facing sustained US-Israeli strikes that have reportedly destroyed much of Iran’s missile arsenal and portions of its navy while Tehran continues regional retaliation.
Ali Khamenei ruled Iran as supreme leader for 36 years until joint US-Israeli strikes on February 28, 2026, killed him along with family members and multiple top military and intelligence officials at his Tehran compound. The succession process is now opaque and under fire, with the Assembly of Experts' Qom site damaged, acting leader Ali Larijani facing a power vacuum, and the IRGC interim council trying to preserve control.
As of May 2026: Directing Iran's retaliatory campaign
For more than four decades, US embassies in the Middle East and Africa have faced bombings, sieges, and missile strikes. None has been attacked in Western Europe — until an incendiary device detonated at the entrance of the US Embassy in Oslo at 1:00 a.m. on March 8, shattering windows and sending smoke into the street.
As of May 2026: Operating independently of presidential authority during wartime
Iran's Supreme Leader controlled both the presidency and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for over four decades. Eight days after a joint United States-Israeli airstrike killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that unified chain of command fractured.
As of May 2026: Conducting expanded retaliatory strikes across Gulf including UAE; declared end to restraint on civilian infrastructure targeting
Since February 28, the US-Iran war has expanded to include critical water infrastructure. On March 8, Iran struck a Bahrain desalination plant.
As of May 2026: Conducting retaliatory strikes across Gulf region
Dubai International Airport processed 95.2 million passengers in 2025 and became the world's busiest in January 2026. On March 1, Iranian missiles and drones struck its terminals, forcing full evacuation. On March 16—16 days into the conflict—another drone hit a fuel tank, reigniting flight suspensions and forcing additional Emirates cancellations despite partial airspace reopening. Abu Dhabi, Doha, and Kuwait shut down simultaneously on February 28, severing three major Gulf hubs that route long-haul traffic between Europe, Asia, and Africa.
As of May 2026: Primary force conducting crackdown
On February 14, 2026, an estimated 250,000 people marched through Munich during the Munich Security Conference, the largest protest ever held in Europe against Iran's government. The same day, 350,000 gathered in Toronto and 60,000 in Los Angeles—part of a coordinated Global Day of Action called by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran's last shah, who has lived outside Iran for 47 years. Over one million people participated worldwide.
Updated May 29
As of May 2026: Named by Bahrain as the sponsor of the convicted cells
A Bahraini court sentenced nine people to life on Sunday for spying for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Two others got three years. The verdict is the latest in a string of prosecutions Manama has pushed through since Iranian missiles and drones hit the kingdom in February.
Updated May 24
As of May 2026: Now designated as terrorist organization by EU, US, Canada, Australia
For over two decades, the European Union resisted designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, wary of severing diplomatic ties with Tehran. On January 29, 2026, that resistance collapsed. All 27 EU foreign ministers voted unanimously to place the IRGC on the same legal footing as al-Qaeda, Hamas, and Islamic State—a designation that triggers automatic asset freezes and travel bans across the bloc. Within hours, the United Kingdom signaled it would follow suit with separate legislation targeting hostile state agencies.
Updated May 23
As of May 2026: Targeted by new Australian sanctions; fears of US strikes reigniting unrest
Iran's 2022 uprising killed roughly 500 people over several months. The current one has killed at least 6,842 people (possibly more than 30,000) in just over five weeks; leaked documents reveal Supreme Leader Khamenei approved a premeditated crackdown blueprint months in advance.[1][2]
As of May 2026: Designated as terrorist organization by EU; 214 members killed in protests
Bazaar merchants bankrolled Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Now they're in the streets demanding its end.
Updated May 22
As of May 2026: Continuing crackdown operations; reports of chemical weapons use
The Islamic Republic has survived four decades of protests—but never anything like this. What began on December 28 as Tehran bazaar merchants protesting a collapsing currency became Iran's largest uprising since the 1979 revolution, with demonstrations in all 31 provinces.
Updated May 21
As of May 2026: Designated terrorist organization by EU on January 29, placed on same list as al-Qaeda and ISIS; faces asset freezes, funding prohibition, travel bans; led massacre that killed at least 6,126; hundreds of junior officers defected; carried out at least 52 executions
Iran's nationwide uprising, triggered by December 28, 2025 bazaar marches in Tehran, was crushed in what may be the deadliest massacre in the Islamic Republic's history. An internet blackout that began January 8 was partially restored around January 17-18, though connectivity remains severely restricted. Early reports confirmed 572 deaths; after internet restoration in late January, the Human Rights Activists News Agency documented at least 6,126 deaths, with estimates ranging from 12,000 to over 36,500.
Updated May 20
As of May 2026: Leading crackdown on protesters with live ammunition
Iran's judiciary chief announced January 14 that detained protesters face fast-track trials and executions, despite Trump's warning of "very strong action." The death toll hit at least 2,571, per Human Rights Activists News Agency — four times the count from two days earlier and more than any crackdown since 1979.
As of May 2026: Leading violent crackdown with live fire on protesters
The Iranian rial lost half its value in six months, prompting merchants—the same traders who toppled the Shah in 1979—to shut down Tehran's Grand Bazaar on December 28. Within two weeks, the strike became the largest uprising since the Islamic Revolution; credible estimates range from 500 to 3,000 dead after a five-day internet blackout, with the IRGC firing live ammunition on crowds.
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