At an April 18 ceremony marking Armed Forces Day in Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani urged the military to respect the will of Imam Ruhollah Khomeini, the late leader of the Islamic Revolution, by “avoiding interfering in political affairs.” The president praised the army, which he said has sacrificed much since the 1979 revolution to protect the country from external threats “without requesting its share from the nation and the elected government.” Rouhani’s comments were a clear reference to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has challenged Rouhani’s foreign policy from the start of his administration, especially after the influential organization found the president reluctant to grant it massive economic projects.
In the weeks leading up to the June 2013 presidential elections, conservative circles were concerned about losing their influence on the incoming administration. Almost all polls conducted by different organizations, including the IRGC and national television, suggested that the moderate candidate was in the lead against his seven rivals — all representing the conservative camp — according to a source familiar with the polls, whose results were never published.
The conservatives were right to be concerned. Soon after Rouhani won the election, he called on the IRGC to limit its economic activities to only a few national projects. That was unsatisfactory to IRGC commanders, who had been awarded at least 11,000 development projects, ranging from construction and aerospace to oil and gas, by the previous government between 2006 and 2013. The commanders said their involvement in the economy was only meant to rein in foreign investors’ ambitions and that they would not continue it if the new government did not need them.
Ali Saeedi, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative at the IRGC, said in January that the military organization “will continue to reduce the number of its projects, as it has already started to do.” He also stated, “Whenever the government needs help, the IRGC is available,” suggesting their eagerness to remain on this lucrative scene.
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