Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)

"The Departments of the Treasury and State today imposed sanctions... for being responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses in Iran since the June 2009 disputed presidential election... Formed by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the IRGC was responsible for guarding and preserving the frontiers of the country and safeguarding the nascent revolution. In recent years, however, the IRGC has increased its involvement with internal threats to the regime, suppressing political dissent since the contested June 2009 presidential election. The IRGC is responsible for the serious human rights abuses that have occurred since the contested June 12, 2009, presidential election, including the violent crackdowns on protests and the mistreatment of political detainees held in a ward of Tehran’s Evin prison controlled by the IRGC." ¹

"The IRGC’s Guard Cyber Defense Command (GCDC) includes a special department called the Center for Inspecting Organized Crimes (CIOC). The CIOC focuses on ensuring the regime’s vision of cyber security. The CIOC’s official website is called Gerdab (www.gerdab.ir), which is a Farsi word meaning whirlpool. The IRGC’s CIOC has openly admitted that it would forcefully suppress anyone seeking to carry out “cultural operations” against the Islamic Republic via the Internet and that it monitors Persian-language sites for what it deems to be aberrations. The CIOC has taken an active role in identifying and arresting protesters involved in the 2009 post-election unrest, particularly those individuals active in cyber space. The IRGC’s CIOC uses extensive methods to identify Internet users, including through an identification of their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. The Iranian regime has identified and arrested many bloggers and activists through the use of advanced monitoring systems, and the CIOC inspects forwarded emails to identify those critical of the regime. The IRGC's cyber police focus on filtering websites in Iran, monitoring the email and online activity of individuals on a watch list, and observing the content of Internet traffic and information posted on web blogs. Individuals on the watch list included known political opponents and reformists, among others. Individuals arrested by the IRGC have been subjected to severe mental and physical abuse in a ward of Evin Prison controlled by the IRGC."²

NOTE:

Canada has sanctioned IRGC, pursuant to the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations, regarding Iran's "grave breach of international peace and security."³

Sources:

1. https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2011/06/165300.htm

2. https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1547.aspx