The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khomeini as a military branch in May 1979 in the aftermath of the Iranian Revolution. Whereas the Iranian Army protects the country's sovereignty in a traditional capacity, the IRGC's constitutional mandate is to ensure the integrity of the Islamic Republic. Most interpretations of this mandate assert that it entrusts the IRGC with preventing foreign interference in Iran, thwarting coups by the traditional military, and crushing "deviant movements" that harm the ideological legacy of the Islamic Revolution. Currently, the IRGC is designated as a terrorist organization by Bahrain, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the United States.
Masoud Pezeshkian is an Iranian politician and physician who has been serving as the ninth president of Iran since 28 July 2024.
Iranians in Germany include immigrants from Iran to Germany as well as their descendants of Iranian heritage or background. Iranians in Germany are referred to by hyphenated terms such as Iranian-Germans or Persian-Germans. Similar terms Iranisch Deutsch and Persisches Deutsch, may be found in Germanophone media. In 2022, Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis) estimates that 304,000 people of Iranian background live in Germany.
The Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency is an ongoing low-intensity asymmetric conflict in Sistan and Baluchestan Province between Iran and several Baloch Sunni militant organizations designated as terrorist organizations by the Iranian government. It began in 2004 and is part of the wider Balochistan conflict.
Keyvan Rafiee is an Iranian political activist. He is a former prisoner of conscience, and was arrested six times for his activities starting in 2003. He is one of the founders of Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRAI).
On 18 June 2017, under Operation Laylat al-Qadr, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired six surface-to-surface mid-range ballistic missile from domestic bases targeting ISIL forces in the Syrian Deir ez-Zor Governorate in response to the terrorist attacks in Tehran earlier that month. Next day, the IRGC published aerial videos recorded by the Damascus-based IRGC drones flying over the city during the operation, confirming that the missiles had successfully hit the targets with precision.
The 2018–2019 Iranian general strikesand protests were a series of strikes and protests that took place across Iran from early 2018 until mid-2019 against the country's economic situation, as well as the Iranian government, as part of the wider Iranian Democracy Movement.
Mohammad Mokhber is an Iranian politician who has served as an advisor and aide to the Supreme Leader of Iran since September 2024. He is also a member of the Expediency Discernment Council since September 2022. Mokhber served as acting president of Iran after the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in the Varzaqan helicopter crash on 19 May 2024. Mokhber was also the 7th First Vice President of Iran from 2021 to 2024.
Azadeh Rojhan Gustafsson is an Iranian-Swedish politician who serves as a member of the Swedish parliament.
Mohammad Delavari is an Iranian writer, journalist and television presenter. He is best known for making several television shows and controversial interviews with Iranian politicians.
Woman, Life, Freedom is a slogan that originated within the women-led Kurdish movements. This slogan transcended its initial context and garnered global recognition following the 2022 protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, who was in the custody of Iran’s morality police for “improper” clothing.
The Zahedan massacre, also known as Bloody Friday (Balochi: زائدانءِ ھۏنݔن آدݔنَگ), was a series of violent crackdowns starting with protesters gathering and chanting in front of a police station near the Great Mosalla of Zahedan, Iran on 30 September 2022 leading to many casualties.
Hamed Esmaeilion is an Iranian-Canadian social activist and author. Esmaeilion won the Hooshang Golshiri Literary Awards for two of his books, Dr. Datis and Thyme is not Fair.
Khodanur Lojei or Lajai was an Iranian protester from Zahedan, who was killed during the 2022 Zahedan massacre, one of the Mahsa Amini protests. A picture of him with his hands tied to a flagpole with a bottle of water put in front of him has become one of the symbols of the ongoing protests Iran.
Kian Pirfalak was an Iranian nine-year-old boy who was killed in Izeh during the crackdown on the Mahsa Amini protests. He was shot by government security forces while sitting in his parents' vehicle during the attack on Izeh market. His father, Meysam Pirfalak, was critically injured in the assault and was hospitalized.
Hamid Ghareh-Hassanlou was arrested in nationwide protests in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini. He is a Gonabadi dervish and a medical doctor who specializes in medical imaging. He was charged with killing a Basiji member during the funerals of Hadis Najafi by the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Karaj. His wife, Farzaneh Ghareh-Hassanlou was arrested the same day. They were reportedly beaten during the arrest, and Hamid's ribs were later reported broken.
Bahman Reyhani is an Iranian commander. On June 20, 2014, he was appointed as the commander of the Kermanshah Nebi Akram Corps, a Kurdish force in the IRGC located in Kermanshah province, based on the order of Mohammad Ali Jafari, the commander of the IRGC at the time, in a ceremony attended by Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the IRGC at the time. Reyhani has played a decisive role in helping the victims of the 2018 Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake. Bahman Reyhani was included in the sanctions list of the European Union on December 21, 2022, due to gross violations of human rights in Iran.
Parisa Farshidi is a Taekwondo practitioner from Iran.
Shaya Goldoust is an Iranian-born Canadian journalist, human rights activist, radio host, and radio producer. She is one of the presenters of Iran Wire, and Radio Ranginkaman. She lives in Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada.
Reza Saraj was an Iranian politician who was the head of foreign intelligence for the Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). He previously led the Special Operations Unit of the IRGC Intelligence Organization and was responsible for a series of failed operations against Israeli citizens. In June 2023, the United States Department of the Treasury sanctioned him in connection with the IRGC's overseas terrorism activities. He was accused by Washington of participating in terrorist plots outside Iran, targeting former U.S. government officials, Iranian-American dual citizens, and Iranian dissidents opposed to the Islamic Republic.
