Revolutionary Guards news stories on Newser

Iran: Nuke Test Will Give Us 'National Sparkle'

Kevin Spak — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 12:34:00 CDT

“The day after Iran’s first nuclear test is a normal day.” So begins a strange article posted on the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Gerdab website that has set off alarms in the West. Originally posted in April, the hypothetical article waxes poetic about how great it will be when Iran successfully...

Cops Shoot Tear Gas at Iranian Protesters

Matt Cantor — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:00:21 CST

Hundreds of Iranian riot police shot tear gas at protesters in Tehran today, as thousands marched toward the city’s central square in a show of solidarity with Egypt. Some police rode motorcycles and wielded paintball guns, the New York Times reports. Protesters chanted “Death to the dictator”—meaning Mahmoud Ahmadinejad....

Ahmadinejad Got Slapped for Siding With Protesters

Nick McMaster — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 17:05:21 CST

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, not necessarily known as a big softy, took a surprisingly sympathetic stance toward the protesters then filling the streets to protest his election—and got slapped across the face for his trouble. Ahmadinejad, in a meeting with the Supreme National Security Council, said the people felt "suffocated" and...

Iran to Gaza Aid Ships: We'll Escort You

Polly Davis Doig — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 16:57:15 CDT

If aid ships want to try breaking Israel's naval blockade on Gaza again, they'll have the full force and military escort of Iran's Revolutionary Guard to do it, a spokesman for the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said today. "Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval forces are fully prepared to escort the peace...

US Freed Iraqi Insurgent for Brit Hostage

Rob Quinn — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 05:22:00 CST

Yesterday's release of British hostage Peter Moore two years after he was kidnapped in Iraq was secured by the transfer of an Iraqi Shia insurgent leader with strong ties to Iran. Qais al-Khazali—suspected of planning an attack that killed five US soldiers—has been shifted from US to Iraqi...

Iran Cracks Down Ahead of Rally

M. Morris — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:25:48 CST

An annual rally is shaping up as another battle between Iran's government and citizens, with Internet access in Tehran restricted and foreign reporters warned not even to go outside for the next 3 days. Dec. 7 is Students Day, marking the anniversary of the deaths of three student protesters in...

Iran Test Launches Its Longest-Range Missiles

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:03:19 CDT

Iran claimed to have test-fired the longest-range missiles in its arsenal today—weapons capable of carrying a warhead and striking Israel or US military bases in the Middle East. It was the third round of missile tests in two days of drills by the power Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran's...

Iranian Protesters Raped in Prison: Candidate

Jason Farago — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:23:12 CDT

Iranian protesters, both male and female, were raped in a notorious prison in the aftermath of the disputed presidential election, one of the defeated candidates alleged today. Reformist Mehdi Karroubi wrote on his website that senior prison officials told him about "really shameful issues," including sexual violence that "caused serious...

In the Shadows, Ayatollah's Son Calls the Shots

Jason Farago — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:28:14 CDT

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rarely appears in public and cultivates a shadowy reputation—but even further out of the public eye, his son has become one of the post powerful men in Iran. Ultraconservative cleric Mojtaba Khamenei, believed to be around 50 years old, has connections throughout the Revolutionary Guards and...