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The troops in the Iranian Army (Artesh) believe that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) soldiers are mistreating them, refusing to share medical personnel, and leaving the regular army with insufficient food, water, and even ammunition. The hostility of Artesh recruits toward the “spoiled” combatants of the IRGC continues inexorably to grow. More on this outbreak of mutual hostility in the ranks can be found here: “Desertions, shortages and army-IRGC rift strain Iran’s military,” Iran International, March 12, 2026:
Iran’s armed forces are facing acute supply shortages, rising desertions and deepening friction between the regular army (Artesh) and the Revolutionary Guards, according to informed sources who described a military system under growing strain as the war intensifies.
Among the most serious allegations are reports that wounded army personnel have been denied assistance by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that some frontline units are operating with minimal ammunition, food and drinking water, and that attempts to mobilize reserve forces have faltered.
Tensions between army and Revolutionary Guards
One of the sharpest points of friction appears to involve medical support for wounded soldiers.
Sources said that regular army units are suffering significant casualties but that IRGC personnel have refused to transport injured army soldiers to hospitals despite having access to medical facilities.
According to the sources, Revolutionary Guards officials rejected repeated army requests for assistance, citing shortages of ambulances and blood supplies.
The refusals have deepened anger and resentment between personnel from the two forces, adding to long-standing institutional tensions between the regular army (Artesh) and the IRGC….
Large numbers of troops have been reported as having deserted from their bases en masse, and seeking refuge among sympathetic Iranian civilians in towns nearby.
The strain is not limited to the regular army, according to the sources.
Even within IRGC missile units – traditionally among the best resourced parts of Iran’s military – there have been reports of communications equipment failures and shortages of food and other basic supplies.
The IRGC’s elite units, containing the soldiers in charge of missile launches, have always been given the best treatment by the regime. But even they are suffering from a lack of food and water, though not to the extent endured by the regular army.
The upper echelons of the IRGC are determined to keep their missile systems operational, which means ensuring a steady supply of components. And that matters far more to them than does the wellbeing of their troops; food for those troops arrives only intermittently. They are not starving, but are certainly undernourished.
Even the elite IRGC, whose troops are the best-fed and best supplied In Iran, are finding that they can no longer count on their own reserves answering the call when summoned. More of those refractory soldiers simply don’t show up. Worse still, a noticeable number are moving their families closer to the country’s borders — especially those with Iraq and Turkey — in the hope that they can together make it safely across.
Meanwhile, the resentment in the regular army at the high-handed ways of the IRGC continue to roil the ranks. Especially infuriating is the IRGC’s refusal to let its own medical personnel treat wounded soldiers from the regular army. The fury is not yet to the point of mutiny, and a demand for better treatment “at the same level as the Revolutionary Guards enjoy” but it’s getting there. It’s not far-fetched to imagine a future scenario with the Iranian National Army refusing to fire on protesters, and the IRGC then firing on the army.
Photo credit: 2016 Islamic Republic of Iran Army Day parade in Tehran by Mahmood Hosseini, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
