The Role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the Future of Democracy in Iran: Will Oil Income Influence the Process?

Iranians have experienced some democratic movements during the last fifteen years, but they did not succeed in establishing democracy in the country. However, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has increasingly played an undeniable role in different fields of Iran's society, particularly after the war with Iraq in the early 1990s. Additionally, Iran's political economy, based on oil revenue, helped the center of power to support the IRGC and the government. In this article, we discuss about the relationship between the government and IRGC, and moreover we conclude that this condition plays an obstacle role for democracy in Iran.