Has Trump misunderstood Iran’s IRGC and the Basij forces?
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US president called for IRGC members to lay down their arms or face 'certain death'. Here's how he misunderstands IRGC.
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Features | Explainer Has Trump misunderstood Iran’s IRGC and the Basij forces? The US president called for IRGC members to lay down their arms or face ‘certain death’. Here’s how he misunderstands the IRGC. Listen to this article | 7 mins By Al Jazeera Staff Published On 1 Mar 2026 1 Mar 2026 Click here to share on social media Share Save Add Al Jazeera on Google On Saturday, as the United States and Israel attacked Iran, US President Donald Trump sent a message to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps conscripts, demanding they surrender or die. “To the members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces and all of the police, I say tonight that you must lay down your weapons and have complete immunity,” Trump said. “Or in the alternative, face certain death. So, lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death.” Instead, they retaliated with drone and missile attacks on Israel and multiple Arab states that host US assets in the region. Early on Sunday morning, Iranian state television announced that one of the strikes on Tehran killed its longtime supreme leader , Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. If Trump’s appeal to the IRGC was aimed at inspiring defections or abdications, it does not seem to have had the intended effect. So why did Trump’s call for the IRGC to lay down their arms fall on deaf ears? Here’s everything you need to know: What is the IRGC It is an elite armed force and a constitutionally recognised component of the Iranian military, established in 1979 after the Islamic revolution. It operates alongside the country’s regular army but answers directly to the supreme leader. In fact, its doctrine is built on velayat-e faqih, or guardianship of the Islamic jurist, essentially the protection of the Islamic revolution and its fealty to the supreme religious leader, initially Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who died in 1989 and was succeeded by Khamenei. Advertisement It is composed of ground, naval and air f...
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