Rachel Ehrenfeld: Why Targeting Iran’s ‘Shadow Economy’ Hits The IRGC Where It Hurts

(Alex Raufoglu – RFE/RL) With a cease-fire in the US-Israeli war on Iran due to expire on April 22, US actions at sea are drawing renewed attention to a central issue: how deeply Iran’s military establishment is embedded in the country’s economy. The disabling on April 19 of the M/V Touska, a container ship reportedly linked to Iranian trade networks, highlighted the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) over key industries, from banking and energy to shipping and telecommunications. In an interview with RFE/RL, Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of the American Center for Democracy and the Economic Warfare Institute and author of multiple books on terrorism financing, said the IRGC’s economic reach is not incidental but rather a crucial foundation of its power. She argued that targeting infrastructure and commercial activity directly affects the regime’s military capabilities. – Rachel Ehrenfeld: Why Targeting Iran’s ‘Shadow Economy’ Hits The IRGC Where It Hurts