Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

Iran has a long history of coups, revolutions and invasions, leaving it with a complex web of economic, religious and military alliances.

On paper, it’s meant to create a balance between theocracy and democracy. In reality, only one man is truly in control.

Jan. 31 (UPI) — The Iranian military intends to conduct two days of live-fire naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz, starting on Sunday, despite warnings against it from the U.S. military.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is conducting the drills amid civic unrest and U.S. President Donald Trump deploying a “massive armada” to the area, led by the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.

“U.S. forces acknowledge Iran’s right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters. Any unsafe and unprofessional behavior near U.S. forces, regional partners or commercial vessels increases risks of collision, escalation, and destabilization,” CENTCOM officials said in a statement on Saturday.

“CENTCOM will ensure the safety of U.S. personnel, ships, and aircraft operating in the Middle East. We will not tolerate unsafe IRGC actions, including overflight of U.S. military vessels engaged in flight operations, low-altitude or armed overflight of U.S. military assets when intentions are unclear, high-speed boat approaches on a collision course with U.S. military vessels, or weapons trained at U.S. forces,” CENTCOM said.

The Strait of Hormuz connects the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, with Iran situated along its northern shore and Oman and the United Arab Emirates along its southern shoreline.

More than 100 merchant vessels per day sail through the strait, which makes it an “essential trade corridor” that supports the region’s economy, CENTCOM said, as reported by Fox News.

The deployment comes as the Trump administration considers potential military intervention in the Iranian unrest.

Various estimates place the number of protestors and other civilians killed at between 6,000 and more than 30,000 since protests began on Dec. 28.

Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman attended a private briefing in Washington, D.C., on Friday and warned that Iran would grow stronger if the United States does not act in Iran is warranted if military action is warranted, Axios reported.

Trump has threatened to target Iran’s leadership with military strikes if widespread killings of protesters continued, but he delayed any strikes after Saudi leaders cautioned against it.

Salman’s comments on Friday indicate a change among Saudi Arabia’s leadership regarding potential military action in Iran.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday accused the U.S. military of trying to dictate how the Iranian military conducts “target practice on their own turf.”

“Freedom of navigation and safe passage of commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz are of vital importance for Iran, as much as it is for our neighbors,” Araghchi added.

“The presence of outside forces in our region has always caused the exact opposite of what is declared: promoting escalation instead of de-escalation,” he said.

The pending military exercise also is scheduled after Iranian state media reported an explosion damaged a nine-story residential building and killed a young girl and injured 14 in Bandar Abbas, which is an Iranian port city located on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Fars News Agency denied reports that IRGC Navy leader Brigadier Gen. Alireza Tangsiri died in the blast, which local officials said likely was caused by a gas leak.

“The initial cause of the building accident in Bandar Abbas was a gas leak and buildup, leading to an explosion,” Bandar Abbas Fire Chief Mohammad Amin Lyaghat told Iranian state media. He called the explanation an “initial theory.”

Foreign minister announces apparent reversal of France’s stance, saying Iran protest crackdown ‘cannot go unanswered’.

France has said it supports the European Union’s push to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist organisation”, reversing earlier opposition to the move.

In a statement shared on social media on Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot appeared to link the planned designation to the Iranian authorities’ recent crackdown on antigovernment protests across the country.

“The unbearable repression of the Iranian people’s peaceful uprising cannot go unanswered. Their extraordinary courage in the face of the violence that has been unleashed upon them cannot be in vain,” Barrot wrote on X.

“With our European partners, we will take action tomorrow in Brussels against those responsible for these atrocities. They will be banned from European territory and their assets will be frozen,” he said.

“France will support the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the European list of terrorist organisations.”

EU foreign ministers are meeting on Thursday in Brussels, where they are expected to sign off on the new sanctions against the IRGC.

The move, being led by Italy, is likely to be approved politically, although it needs unanimity among the bloc’s 27 member-states.

Established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the IRGC is a branch of the country’s military that answers directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It oversees the Iranian missile and nuclear programmes and plays a central role in Iran’s defence as well as its foreign operations and influence in the wider region.

While some EU member countries have previously pushed for the IRGC to be added to the EU’s “terrorist” list, others, led by France, have been more cautious.

They feared such a move could lead to a complete break in ties with Iran, impacting diplomatic missions, and also hurting negotiations to release European citizens held in Iranian prisons.

Paris has been especially worried about the fate of two of its citizens currently living at the embassy in Tehran after being released from prison last year.

The push by the EU to sanction the IRGC comes amid global criticism of a crackdown on a wave of demonstrations in Iran, which broke out last month in response to soaring inflation and an economic crisis.

The United States-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it confirmed at least 6,221 deaths, including at least 5,858 protesters, linked to the weeks-long protest movement while it is investigating 12,904 others.

Iran’s government has put the death toll at 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and members of the country’s security forces and labelling the rest as “terrorists”.

Al Jazeera has been unable to independently verify these figures.

The protests also spurred renewed tensions between Iran and the US, as US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to launch an attack against the country in recent weeks.

Trump designated the IRGC as a “terrorist” group in 2019 during his first term in office.

Canada and Australia did the same in 2024 and in November of last year, respectively.

Iran has warned of “destructive consequences” if the EU goes ahead with plans to list the IRGC, and it summoned the Italian ambassador over Rome’s spearheading of the move.