Question for those on this thread that are Persian or really follow Iran closely, because I never see this discussed in the media and am curious and have no idea myself...
Where does the Iranian ARMY stand politically?
Not talking about the Revolutionary Guards or Pasdaran or anything, the regular army. Obviously, they have most of the guns and are key to anything happening.
I would suspect many of the rank and file officers would have no love for the Mullahcracy, but I would also suspect that the Mullahs have installed "reliable" officers as commanders of units, particularly those in or near Teheran.
Not sure of the military's "politics", but the regime doesn't trust them anymore to defend them. Afraid they'll side with the people. So they have "hired guns". Here's a quote from DoctorZin from an earlier thread.....
"the country's military is underarmed and under trained because the regime does not trust them. The regime has various armed groups the latest being Arab security forces who have little concern for Iranian citizens."