WASHINGTON, D.C. – From its warmongering in Iraq, Syria, and to a degree in Yemen, to its meddling in Lebanon, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian territories and Turkey, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its terrorist proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, have caused chaos in the Middle East region since it came to power in 1979.
Iranian MPs have criticized the arrests of journalists and social media organizers ahead of the presidential election in May, with one directly accusing the elite Revolutionary Guards in a letter published Saturday.
An article by Babak Dehghanpisheh at Reuters makes the case that former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani’s recent death was a watershed event that could mark the beginning of a disturbing ascendancy for the hardline Revolutionary Guard Corps, which already has far too much power.
Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a wily political survivor and multimillionaire mogul who remained among the ruling elite despite moderate views, died Sunday, state TV reported. He was 82.
Contents: Turkey blocks tens of thousands of Aleppo Syria residents from entering Turkey; As Iran’s election approaches, generational conflict becomes vicious; Iran’s historic struggle between Principlists and Reformists
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president of Iran who continues to maintain a loyal following both inside and outside of the country, admitted in an interview with Iranian media that the regime in Tehran commenced a nuclear weapons program at the height of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war.