The guards rise again: the force still shaping Iran
Should the regime survive, hardliners believe the IRGC’s influence will be ever greater
Should the regime survive, hardliners believe the IRGC’s influence will be ever greater

US-Israeli assassinations have left a regime that looks more hawkish at home and abroad

As troops fight the US and Israel, government supporters and armed volunteers patrol cities and man security checkpoints

Destructive US and Israeli war and Islamic republic’s resilience have alarmed even those who supported foreign intervention

Do social freedoms come via resistance to the Islamic regime or are they concessions that will ensure its survival?

Iran’s new supreme leader has been shaped by decades-long ties with the powerful and hardline Revolutionary Guards

Tehran has a strong incentive to keep the conflict going