The deadly and repressive Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the military right arm of the despotic Iranian theocratic government, which has been labeled a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) by the U.S. State Department, has ordered its members to stop using communications devices.
The move came after thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Iran’s ally, Hezbollah, blew up last week. According to one official, Iran, which does not recognize Israel’s right to exist, is investigating mid and high-ranking members of the IRGC — which is comprised of roughly 190,000 members — suspicious that some may be surreptitiously helping Israel.
“This includes scrutiny of their bank accounts both in Iran and abroad, as well as their travel history and that of their families,” the official said.
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini established the IRGC in May 1979 after the Islamic Revolution. It has brutally targeted Iran’s own citizens when they protest against the oppressive regime. When the U.S. designated the IRGC a terrorist group in 2019, it was the first time the U.S. had designated the military branch of a foreign country in this manner.
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act stated, “The IRGC, not just the IRGC-QF [the Quds Force, the Guard’s extraterritorial branch], is responsible for implementing Iran’s international program of destabilizing activities, support for acts of international terrorism, and ballistic missile program.” The law is pursuant to Executive Order 13224, which aimed at freezing the assets of terrorists and their supporters and preventing their access to U.S. financial and commercial systems, according to the Treasury Department.
Iran’s Ground Forces, Aerospace Forces, its Navy, and the Basij paramilitary are all part of the IRGC.
Israel had been secretly manufacturing the pagers that Hezbollah was buying for years. The Taiwanese company Gold Apollo had contracted with a company called B.A.C. Consulting in Hungary to manufacture the pagers. B.A.C. Consulting was one of three shell companies that Israel created to mask the true manufacturer of the communications equipment: Israeli intelligence.
IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Col. Herzi Halevi, said that Israel was “very determined to create the security conditions that will return the residents to their homes, to the communities, with a high level of security, and we are ready to do all that is required to bring about these things.”
He warned Hezbollah: “We still have many capabilities that we have not yet activated. We saw some of these things here, and it seems to me that the readiness is good and we are preparing these plans going forward. The rule is that every time we work on a certain stage, the next two stages are already ready to advance. At each stage, the price for Hezbollah must be high.”
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