UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO
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Marine Corps Intelligence Activity |
(U) Identities Within the Military
Ahram Ariel(U) Regionalism
This section describes the role of regional identies and stereotypes in the military.(U) The regular army under the Qajars (1794 to 1921) and in the early Pahlavi regime (1920s and 1930s) was mostly comprised of Persians and Azerbaijanis. Now, the advent and expansion of national conscription diminished the importance of regional distinctiveness of the Artesh within Iranian society. Regional stereotypes still persist, but are less important, as most regular military units tend to be regionally and ethnically diverse.
(U) During the Iran-Iraq War, the IRGC’s battlefield formation corresponded to territorially organized units, with IRGC and Basiji members recruited from corresponding geographic regions. The size and strength of an IRGC unit depended on the mobilization potential of a given geographic region, with the corps drawing from densely populated Tehran more than rural provinces. This allowed the IRGC to maintain its dual role as a military force fighting against Iraq and an internal security organ. The implementation of conscription in the IRGC may have decreased the importance of regionalism within the IRGC, although units are still organized regionally.
(U) Family and regional ties are very important for the Basij. These volunteers tend to be teenagers and older men who volunteer for seasonal stints under local IRGC commanders. Often, Basij members come from the rural areas and can only serve when their labor is not needed for planting or sowing. Basij units can form out of loyalty to a particular ayatollah and function as his private bodyguard or vigilantes, becoming what is known as Ansar-e Hizbollah. Many times IRGC commanders allow these groups to use military equipment, including weapons.
Ahram Ariel(U) Ethnicity
This section discusses the role of ethnicity in the military, including the Sunni Baluch, Armenians, Bahai, Kurds, Persian.(U) Iranians generally distrust people from ethnic groups that have not learned Persian or not adopted Shi'a Islam. Certain indigenous minority groups tend to specialize in high skill but non-combat positions. For instance, Armenian Christians tend to serve as air force technicians and mechanics. Other groups, like the Sunni Kurds, Turkmen, Baluchis, and Arabs, generally do not serve at all.
(U) During training, many Iranian soldiers learn to distrust people of certain ethnic groups who are suspected of disloyalty. Soldiers are taught to avoid Kurdish women, who might lure them into a trap where Kurdish guerrillas could kill him.
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(U) Conscripts from traditionally nomadic communities find military life particularly disagreeable. The sheer distance between their station assignment and their homes is bewildering. Many experience physical or psychological abuse and inadequate living conditions.. They resent the more cosmopolitan city-dwellers, who are often Persian. Tribesmen expect their chieftan to intervene with state authorities to get their tribesmen out of the military or even harbor tribesmen who are avoiding service.
(U) There have been reports that members of the Baha’i faith are persecuted within the military. While the Islamic Republic provides constitutional protection to the minorities it deems indigenous (Zoroastrians, non-Protestant Christians, and Jews), the Baha’i are considered apostates from Islam and are actively persecuted. Many Iranians believe a Baha’i-Zionist conspiracy orchestrates world affairs from behind the scenes. Estimates of their numbers in Iran range from 150,000 to 500,000. In 1997 a training officer shot and killed a Baha’i conscript. The officer maintain that the wepon was fired by accident and was released after a few days. Because the dead soldier was a Baha’i, the court excused the officer from paying the blood money normally required in such cases.
Ahram Ariel(U) Socioeconomic Class
This section describes class divisions with the military and the ability to dodge the draft.(U) Khomeini depicted the 1979 Revolution as the triumph of the oppressed over the oppressors. The base of the IRGC came from the lower- and middle-class urban guerrillas who fought against the Shah. As the IRGC became more institutionalized and more prominent in the regime during the Iran-Iraq War, it began to attract volunteers from the urban slums. The opportunists joined the IRGC more for the benefits of social prestige and material reward than religious conviction, although they may have been sympathetic to the IRGC’s political message.
(U) The urban and rural poor gravitate toward the Basij militias. The Basij are animated by a sense of class hatred for the upper- and middle-class Iranians. They enjoy the power of being able to harass the sons and daughters of the rich for behaving in an immodest or un-Islamic manner. They can be bribed, however, to look the other way. When there are public protests on university campuses, the Basij take the opportunity to settle scores with their social superiors.
(U) Among the conscripts in both the IRGC and the Artesh, socioeconomic privilege still has sway. Those with money, either from the post-Revolutionary new elite or from old money families, can pay bribes to arrange for military assignments that are closer to home or involve less physical labor. Being stationed close to home means that a conscript can avoid sleeping in the barracks at night and instead return to his family home. Poorer conscripts, the Basij, and veterans who served in the Iran-Iraq War resent the privileges afforded to children of the rich, who can stay in the university to avoid service or get easy assignments.
Ahram Ariel(U) Gender
This section describes the military's attitude toward women and the different roles they play in Shii mythology.(U) Women are not conscripted in the Iranian armed forces. Attitudes toward women in combat are also controversial, based on conflicting interpretations of the role of women during the days of the prophet and in the martyrdom of the Shi’ite saint, Imam Husayn. While jihad is incumbent on women, they may be able to fulfill their obligation through auxiliary services, like medicine, logistics, and teaching.
(U) Attitudes toward women’s roles in the military are affected by Islamic mores and customs. Yet these attitudes are changing in Iran. On the one hand, the Islamic Republic proscribes strict modesty for women, requiring them to be covered in public and not be seen with any males except for close relatives (husbands, fathers, and sons). They are generally required to remain subservient to males, particularly in the realm of politics. On the other hand, women are allowed to vote, stand for election in Parliament (although not for President), achieve high levels of education, and take professions. Still, it would be nearly impossible for Iranian women to work in a military setting except in units fully segregated by gender.
Ahram Ariel(U) Homosexuality
This section describes Iranian attitudes toward homosexuality and male bonding in the military.(U) As in most Muslim societies, homosexuality is attributed only to the receiver of the sexual act, not the active partner. Homosexuality is condemned by the Qur'an and Iranian law lists flogging as its punishment. The accusation of homosexuality is also used as an excuse to punish people considered enemies of the Islamic moral order. Charges of sexual impropriety are often coupled with drug charges, making them a capital offense.
(U) Still, relationships among Iranian men may reach levels of intimacy which U.S. citizens would mistake for homosexuality. While these relationships are generally platonic, it is not uncommon for male intimates of the same dowreh (intimate circle of peers) to share a prostitute. This type of intimacy would only be practiced among equals, not between superiors and subordinates. Given the all-male environment, the fact that most Iranian men have their first sexual experience between the ages of 18 and 20, and that most men in the military are still unmarried, prostitute sharing and other sexual bonding behavior is likely prevalent in the military.
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