Republicfaces one of the world’s worst outbreaks of the new coronavirus.
Its commanders likely hope it also will wash away something else ‐ the anger the public feels toward the powerful paramilitary force stained by its shooting down of a Ukrainian passenger jet in January. All 176 people on board ‐ most of them Iranian citizens ‐ were killed.
The push by the Guard comes as the new virus has infected and killed members of Iranian officialdom. Ensuring the survival of the government ‐ as well as its own place in power ‐ remains paramount amid one of the world’s deadliest virus outbreaks outside of China. Fear over the virus and the government’s waning credibility has become a major challenge to Iran’s leaders, who already are reeling under the weight of American sanctions.
"We have prepared all our health care facilities and specialized cadres that will expand this sacred jihad," said Brig. Gen. Gholamreza Soleimani, who commands the Guard’s volunteer Basij force.
That the Guard is involved in the relief effort of a major catastrophe is not surprising in Iran. The Guard, whose forces include an estimated 125,000-plus troops and 600,000 mission-ready volunteers, routinely respond to the earthquakes that shake the country. Recent floods saw its troops mobilize as well.
Its forces, which include virologists, faced chemical weapons
...have not been used since WWI except for in Iraq, by the late, unlamented Saddam Hussein and in Syria, but really, honest, not by the Syrian government. And in Germany in WWII, but that was against civilians. Lots of them, just one of many reasons Hitler's also late and unlamented...during Iran’s eight-year war against Iraq in the 1980s. It expanded into private industry after the war years to help the country rebuild. And the Guard, also known by the acronym IRGC, has conducted polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set. Currently the disease is only found in Pakistain and Afghanistain...
and other immunization drives in the past.
"The IRGC sees itself as the lead agency in any threat against the regime," said Afshon Ostovar, an assistant professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in the United States who wrote book on the Guard. "Whether it’s protests, a state adversary or a virus, the IRGC will position itself publicly as Iran’s frontline defender."