Iran Activates 'Decentralised Mosaic Defence' Guerrilla Warfare Strategy
Iran has reportedly restructured its defence strategy by activating ‘Decentralised Mosaic Defence’, a guerrilla warfare doctrine executed simultaneously across its territory, following recent US and Israeli attacks on central command routes.
The new strategy has restructured the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) into 31 autonomous operational units: one unit in Tehran and 30 others distributed under provincial-level command. Each unit commander has been granted full freedom to make warfare decisions without requiring approval from the central authority in Tehran.
According to Iranian officials, recent US and Israeli attacks have targeted critical infrastructure and military command centres. Although Tehran has not disclosed detailed operational mechanisms, several senior figures have indicated that the restructuring is designed to prevent systemic paralysis if communication disruptions or efforts to remove leadership occur.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that Iran has long studied how to fight the United States and its allies. “Bombing in our capital has not impacted our capability to wage war. Decentralised Mosaic Defence allows us to decide when and how the war will end,” he said through X on Sunday.
Through the same platform, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Chairman Ali Larijani also affirmed his forces’ readiness for prolonged conflict. “Iran, unlike the United States, has prepared itself for a long war,” Larijani wrote.
How does Decentralised Mosaic Defence work?
According to reports, the IRGC, divided into 31 independent units, will each act like puzzle pieces. Every commander receives full tactical authority. Firing missiles, launching drones, and launching guerrilla attacks will be their decisions without needing to await approval.
Like widely known guerrilla warfare, steep mountains and deserts will become attack zones. The layered defence is believed to gradually weaken an occupier through attrition and dispersed resistance across the terrain.