After Ayatollah Khomenei overthrew the Shah of Iran in 1979, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp. (IRGC)was established. Its initial purpose was primarily to protect the political interests of the new Islamic Republic in Iran. The eight year war with Iraq quickly followed, and because of the arms embargo placed on the Islamic Regime, the IRGC was forced to make its own weapons. After the Iran-Iraq War ended, the IRGC established companies and gained contracts from the government. Over the next 40 years, the IRGC would come to control nearly half of Iran’s economy, forming Iran’s shadow government.
