Iran Upgrades Intelligence Ops Abroad

[Geee]

Commentary Magazine:

A common feature of Iranian security thinking is an emphasis on duality. Whereas Americans prefer to streamline chains of command to establish a clear hierarchy, Iranian security wings are often redundant, and deliberately so: By duplicating security and external operations entities, Iranian authorities can encourage their security wings to compete against each other and inform on each other, and the government can keep both in check by pitting one versus the other for funding. Such Iranian duality is best seen in the existence of both the regular Iranian military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, but it is also evident in Iran’s external support of militias: During Operation Iraq Freedom, for example, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) supported two main proxies: the Badr Corps and the Jaysh al-Mahdi.