The Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution ( / , or Sepah for short), often called Revolutionary Guards or Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps ("IRGC") by the English-speaking or U.S. media, is a branch of Iran's Armed Forces, founded after the Iranian revolution on 5 May 1979. Whereas the regular military (artesh) defends Iran's borders and maintains internal order, according to the Iranian constitution, the Revolutionary Guard (pasdaran) is intended to protect the country's Islamic system. The Revolutionary Guards state that their role in protecting the Islamic system is preventing foreign interference as well as coups by the military or "deviant movements".