The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran's elite military unit designated by the U.S. State Department as one of the "proliferators of weapons of mass destruction," has increased its threats against Israel, America and other Western countries.

In October 2009, Mojtaba Zolnour, Ayatollah Khamenei's representative in the IRGC, threatened to "blow up the heart of Israel" if the West, in an effort to halt the Islamic Republic's apparent nuclear ambitions, attacks Iran. "Even if one American or Zionist missile hits our country, before the dust settles, Iranian missiles will blow up the heart of Israel."

That same month, IRCG commander Mohammad Ali Jafari blamed the U.S. for a terrorist attack that killed five senior commanders of the IRGC and at least 37 others in Iran's southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan. "Behind this scene are the American and British intelligence apparatus," Jafari said, "and there will have to be retaliatory measures to punish them."

The IRGC was formed in 1979 to protect Iran's new revolutionary government against both international and domestic threats. Members of the IRCG's paramilitary force allegedly beat and killed opposition supporters following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory in the contested June 2009 presidential elections. Ahmadinejad is a former member of the IRGC who has repeatedly denied the Holocaust and threatened Israel's existence.

The IRGC has also allegedly provided training and financial and material support to various terrorist organizations, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Taliban and Shi'i militias in Iraq.