Iran's Revolutionary Guards Commander fears attack against Iran and warns Hezbollah not to attack Israel for fear of reprisal

In the latest Middle Eastern Outlook, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) resident fellow Ali Alfoneh examines how Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force (IRGC QF) is increasingly shaped by a new generation of commanders like Brigadier General Iraj Masjedi, whose close ties with Iraqi insurgents--now power brokers--date back to the Iran-Iraq war.

This article, available in Persian, appears in the Winter 2010 edition of Iran Nameh.

AEI's Danielle Pletka, vice president of foreign and defense policy studies explains in a new post why these negotiations are destined to fail and a new report by AEI Iran expert Ali Alfoneh on Iranian Brigadier General Gholamreza Baghbani, the current chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force (IRGC QF) office in Zahedan, and a narcotics trafficker.

Inspired by the Pakistani role model, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is transforming Iran into a military dictatorship, where the IRGC is not only constitutionally tasked with "safeguarding the revolution and its achievements," but also rules Iran.

In the latest Middle Eastern Outlook, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Iran scholar Ali Alfoneh writes about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's power struggle with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Regardless if it is Khamenei or the IRGC who is responsible for the terror plot, the Islamic Republic should be held responsible and should also pay a price for its adventurist policies. Otherwise a bolder and more assertive leadership in Tehran will test Washington’s redlines.

AEI Iran scholar Ali Alfoneh takes an in-depth look at Suleimani's secret network of military commanders.