IRGC leader takes control of Iran’s military as US tensions rise
A US Navy destroyer intercepted an Iranian-flagged cargo ship within the Strait of Hormuz, firing into its engine room after repeated warnings. Following a six-hour standoff, US Marines took custody of the vessel. President Donald Trump issued stern warnings, threatening to ‘take out their bridges and energy vegetation’ if ongoing peace talks fail, as Iran’s hardline IRGC chief consolidates army control.
NEWYou can now hearken to Fox News articles!
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite department of the Iranian armed forces, has blocked President Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidential appointments and erected what sources described as a safety cordon round Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, a report revealed Tuesday by Iran International mentioned.
The IRGC successfully has assumed control over key state capabilities, the report claimed.
“It was always a matter of when, not if, the IRGC was going to step forward even more than it has in the last three decades,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program on the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, advised Fox News Digital.
Pezeshkian has reached a “complete political deadlock” as tensions between his administration and the army management deepen, according to the report.
IRAN’S CEASEFIRE PUSH MAY BE A ‘CYCLE OF DECEPTION,’ ANALYSTS WARN AS SHADOWY FIGURE GAINS POWER
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the elite department of the Iranian Armed Forces, has blocked President Masoud Pezeshkian’s presidential appointments, a brand new report says. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
The reported shift may have main penalties far past Iran.
Analysts say a extra highly effective IRGC seemingly would imply a extra confrontational Iran, much less keen to compromise in talks with Washington and extra inclined to proceed army escalation throughout the area. With U.S.-Iran negotiations already faltering and uncertainty rising over whether or not Tehran will even ship negotiators to the subsequent spherical of talks, the rise of the Revolutionary Guard raises contemporary doubts about who truly is making choices in Iran and whether or not any civilian official can nonetheless converse for the regime.
“But it’s a mistake to assume this is some sort of coup,” Ben Taleblu mentioned. “This has been the process in Iran for years now, as the regime has chosen conflict over cooperation and emboldened its security forces at every juncture.”
Pezeshkian’s latest effort to nominate a brand new intelligence minister collapsed after direct stress from IRGC commander Ahmad Vahidi, sources advised Iran International, arguing that each one proposed candidates, together with former Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, had been rejected.
Members of the Iranian revolutionary guard march throughout a parade. The IRGC is designated as a overseas terrorist group by the State Department. A big half of its work is to covertly function outdoors of Iran. (Reuters)
Vahidi reportedly insisted that beneath wartime situations, all crucial and delicate positions should be chosen and managed instantly by the Revolutionary Guard till additional discover.
“By any customary, Vahidi is taken into account a radical even inside the regime’s hardline elite, and his rise is a warning that Tehran’s war machine now calls the pictures,” Lisa Daftari, overseas coverage analyst and journalist, advised Fox News Digital.
Under Iran’s system, the president historically nominates an intelligence minister solely after securing approval from the supreme chief. But with the condition and whereabouts of Mojtaba Khamenei unclear in latest weeks, the IRGC seems to be more and more performing with out civilian oversight.
IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER IS ‘HIS FATHER ON STEROIDS,’ EXPERTS WARN OF HARDLINE RULE
RGC commander Ahmad Vahidi reportedly insisted that beneath wartime situations, all crucial and delicate positions should be chosen and managed instantly by the Revolutionary Guard till additional discover. (Morteza Nikoubazl/Nur Photo through Getty Images)
The report claims Pezeshkian repeatedly has sought an pressing assembly with Khamenei however has been unable to determine contact.
Instead, in response to Iran International, a “military council” made up of senior IRGC officers now controls entry to the middle of energy, stopping authorities studies from reaching Mojtaba and successfully isolating him from the elected authorities.
Still, analysts say the reported energy battle displays an extended development in Iran, the place the Revolutionary Guard has steadily expanded its affect over politics, the economic system and nationwide safety.
Ben Taleblu argued that Pezeshkian’s apparent sidelining shouldn’t be considered as a dramatic break from the previous as a result of the president by no means exercised vital impartial authority.
“Those who worry about Pezeshkian’s potential sidelining need to consider what he realistically was or wasn’t able to do mere months ago when the regime slaughtered 40,000 Iranians in the streets,” he mentioned.
Pezeshkian, elected in 2025 on guarantees of moderation and reform, has repeatedly discovered himself constrained by the safety institution and the clerical management.
The newest report means that dynamic has intensified dramatically as Iran faces rising exterior stress and internal uncertainty.
One of probably the most placing claims entails Ali Asghar Hejazi, a robust safety official contained in the workplace of the supreme chief.
LETHAL ELITE ‘BLACK-CLAD’ KILL SQUAD GUARDS IRAN’S NEW SUPREME LEADER MOJTABA KHAMENEI
A banner that includes Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and senior commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is displayed in Tehran, Iran, March 14, 2026. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu through Getty Images)
Some of Mojtaba Khamenei’s associates are actually making an attempt to push Hejazi out as a result of he opposed Mojtaba succeeding his father, in response to Iran International.
The report mentioned Hejazi warned members of the Assembly of Experts that Mojtaba lacked the {qualifications} to grow to be supreme chief and that hereditary succession would violate the rules laid out by Ali Khamenei.
Hejazi reportedly additionally warned that placing Mojtaba in energy would successfully hand the nation to the Revolutionary Guard and completely sideline civilian establishments.
That warning more and more seems to mirror what’s already taking place.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Analysts say the most recent developments counsel the IRGC is not working behind the scenes, however is brazenly rising because the dominant power in Tehran. (AFP/Via Getty Images)
The Revolutionary Guard, created after the 1979 Islamic Revolution to defend the regime, has lengthy developed far past a army power. It now controls main sections of Iran’s economic system, oversees the nation’s missile and nuclear packages, and exerts affect throughout almost each department of authorities.
Analysts say the most recent developments counsel the IRGC is not working behind the scenes, however is brazenly rising as the dominant force in Tehran.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations declined to remark.
