IRGC Seizes Key Levers of Iran’s Power, Sidestepping Civilian Authority

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps appears to have captured key decision-making, answering only to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and sidelining civilian leadership. ISW and US intelligence say IRGC chief Ahmad Vahidi now makes major military and political decisions with wartime authority, and civilian officials such as the speaker of parliament and foreign minister reportedly cannot act without IRGC approval. The IRGC’s influence extends to critical moves like the Strait of Hormuz, which was alternately opened and then closed under IRGC direction, signaling a shift from clerical rule to a more IRGC-centric power structure that also reaches into the economy and regional policy.