What type of military does Iran have?

Answer 1

Iran has had two different military forces after 1978 revolution. 1) regular armed forces, 2) so called revolutionary guard. The regular armed forces (composed of army, air force, navy, etc.) does the usual tasks of military forces all over the world. But for the revolutionary force the main task is protecting the regime against all kinds of threats, so practically they can interfere with everything; from suppressing anti-government movements to doing secret military projects, even assassinating opposition leaders inside and outside the country. Thanks to direct connection to the supreme leader, the power of the revolutionary forces is out of questions and even much more than the government. They also control the oil and the economy of the country and almost all major industrial projects go to their associate companies.

There is also a volunteer semi-military organization, named Basij - now considered a part of revolutionary guard. During the war, Basij was formed by volunteer soldiers who meant to sacrifice themselves for the homeland. But after the war, its nature has been totally changed an turned into a political tool. Basijis (members of Basij) are mostly from religious or uneducated people who support the government because of their Islamic beliefs and/or the advantages of being a Basiji. In other words, Basij is a place to organize pro-government minority against the majority of Iranians. Basij also has non-military branches.