This article analyzes the internal as well as the external factors that have contributed to civilian control of the Iranian military in the last decade. The internal factors include the indoctrination of the military with Islamic ideology and internal division among various segments of the armed forces. The external factors, however, encompass the emergence of premilitary groups the Iran-Iraq war and the Russian influence within the Iranian military. In conclusion, the article analyzes the effectiveness of these factors in the 1990s, pointing to the various changes that are contributing to the erosion of these civilian control factors in recent years.