Rand Corporation

Nikola Schahgaldian

Gina Barkhordarian

This study assesses the Iranian military as a factor in internal Iranian politics. It examines successive influences on the Iranian armed forces since the Islamic Revolution of February 1979. The analysis includes both the professional military and the new paramilitary organizations, the Pasdaran and the Basij. The findings of the study are based primarily on interviews with former Iranian military personnel living outside Iran who have seen service since the revolution, and with nonmilitary individuals. The interview data were supplemented by an analysis of open-source literature in local and Western languages. The findings suggest that the long-term U.S. policy objective ought to be to reestablish a working relationship with Iran and to prevent it or any part of it from coming under Soviet influence. A directory of Iranian military officials and a chronology of events in Iran since 1979 are included in appendixes.

Gina Barkhordarian

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