New Delhi, Jan. 30 -- Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has grown into a powerful force within the country's theocracy, answering only to its supreme leader and overseeing its ballistic missile arsenal and launching attacks overseas.

The force was in the spotlight on Thursday as the European Union moved to declare it a terrorist organization over its part in the bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran earlier this month.

Here's what to know about the Guard.

Born out of a revolution

The Guard rose out of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution as a force meant to protect the country's Shiite cleric-overseen government and later became enshrined in its constitution. It operated parallel to Iran's regular armed forces, growing in pr...