Chapter I
The Revolution
Tehran, 1979 — the moment a republic is improvised in the streets.
The New Battle of the Persian Empire
THE IRGC
A cinematic investigation into power, history and the invisible architecture of nations.
Scroll
To understand Iran today, one must understand the IRGC.
EditorialPlate I
About the EssayAn analytical
An analytical
exploration.
An analytical exploration of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its transformation from a revolutionary militia into one of the most influential military-political structures in the Middle East.
Written as a long-form geopolitical essay, the work moves between archives, testimony and field reporting to map the institutional architecture that has, in four decades, reshaped the region.
Form
Essay
Field
Geopolitics
Year
MMXXVI
The BookA historical
A historical
investigation
into power.
THE IRGC — The New Battle of the Persian Empire traces the rise of one of the most influential organizations of the modern Middle East, from the ashes of revolution to the silent corridors of global influence.
Part documentary, part historical essay, this work moves between archives, testimony and analysis to reveal the invisible architecture behind one of the defining geopolitical stories of our century.
Classification
Archives
Dossier
VII
Year
2026
Power survives through institutions.
The ChaptersSix chapters,
Six chapters,
one institution.
The essay unfolds in six movements — from the revolutionary moment of 1979 to the institutional power of the present day.
- ChapterI
The Birth of the Revolution
1979. A monarchy collapses; a republic is improvised in the streets of Tehran.
- ChapterII
Founding the IRGC
A parallel army is created to guard the revolution from itself, and from the world.
- ChapterIII
Trial by Fire
Eight years of war with Iraq forge a generation, an ideology, and a doctrine.
- ChapterIV
Expansion & Institutionalization
From militia to ministry: the Corps embeds itself in the economy, the state, the silence.
- ChapterV
Proxy Networks
Beirut, Damascus, Baghdad, Sana'a — influence written in alliances, not maps.
- ChapterVI
The IRGC Today
A geopolitical actor of global consequence, observed from the vantage of 2026.
Chapter Films
Moving images.
Four cinematic fragments accompany the essay — slow, silent, observational. Each chapter opens with a moving image.
Chapter II
Voices of Iran
Faces, fragments, testimonies — a country recorded in whispers.
Chapter III
Inside Power
Behind the institution — corridors, uniforms, the architecture of authority.
Chapter IV
The Archive
Documents, maps, photographs — the historical record reassembled.
Revolutions do not end. They mutate.
The ArchiveFragments,
Folio · 2026Fragments,
in order.
- RevolutionN° 0111 February 1979
The Imperial Army stands down. A new order is declared from the streets of Tehran.
- FoundationN° 025 May 1979
Decree establishing the Sepāh-e Pāsdārān — the guardians of the new republic.
- WarN° 0322 September 1980
The Iran–Iraq war begins. A decade of attrition redefines the institution.
- NetworksN° 041982 — present
Hezbollah is organized in the Bekaa. The doctrine of forward defense takes shape.
- ConsolidationN° 051989
The Corps reorganizes after the war: navy, aerospace, ground forces, intelligence.
- Global StageN° 062020 — 2026
From the Strait of Hormuz to the Levant — the IRGC operates as a state within a state.
Selected entries from a working archive — assembled from public records, press reports and field testimony.
Author · Investigator
Alain Dargahi
Paris · London · New YorkFR
An observer of international power structures — four decades spent inside the architecture of finance, law and statecraft.
Trained in political sciences and international law, his work moves quietly between archives, institutions and the men who shape them.
THE IRGC is the result of years of reading, listening and travelling — a long-form documentary essay on one of the defining geopolitical stories of our century.
- GenevaPolitical Sciences
- Paris · LondonInternational Law & Finance
- New York · AmsterdamCross-border Strategy
- 2026THE IRGC — A Geopolitical Essay
The Film
A first glimpse.
A silent prologue — observed, not explained.
The Silent EmpirePrologue
Understanding geopolitical power requires understanding the invisible structures behind nations, economies and conflicts.