Iran's network of armed partners, trained and controlled by the Quds Force, serves to strengthen its influence in the Middle East and could pose a significant threat to the United States and its allies in the region, especially Israel
In the four decades since its Islamic Revolution, Iran has trained and supported a growing number of allied fighting forces throughout the Middle East. Iran's Quds Force, part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is the main point of contact with these groups, providing them with training, weaponry and funds to further Iranian regional objectives. Fighters from Shiite Muslim-majority countries such as Iraq and Lebanon are Iran's main proxies, but groups from Sunni-majority Afghanistan, Palestine, Syria and Yemen have also partnered with Iran. At the center of this network is Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party and militant group infamous for its acts of terrorism, which has helped Iran bridge divisions between Shiite and Persian Arabs. Hezbollah also helped Iran support the regime of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war, where it worked to bring other militias to the defense of the regime.
HOW DID IT COME ABOUT AND WHAT IS THE QUDS FORCE?
The name of this group was not well known in the West until a US airstrike on January 3, 2020 killed its leader, Qassem Soleimani, along with the commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) militia, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and brought Washington and Tehran to the brink of conflict.
The Quds Force, whose name means "Jerusalem" in Farsi and Arabic, a city its fighters vow to "liberate," is the powerful elite paramilitary arm of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is itself Iran's largest military organization and is considered by the United States to be a terrorist group.
Born shortly after the Iranian Revolution (1978-1979), the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, in view of the little confidence he had in the Iranian Army, decided to create a body that would be completely under his control and command. The national army operates under the orders of the central government, that is, under the mandate of the president in office, but the IRGC's capacity to act rests with the supreme leader, now Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Just as Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein used the Revolutionary Guard, Khamenei uses the IRGC to reinforce his will over the Iranian people and defend them from any external and internal danger. This military body is composed of several subgroups, including the Quds Force, which is the "clandestine wing" dealing with operations abroad. Several attacks have been attributed to it, such as the bombing of the Beirut barracks in 1983, which killed 241 American soldiers, 58 French soldiers and six Lebanese civilians. However, such moves are not the norm, as they prefer to support and advise rather than be on the front line of battle.
The Quds Force has between 5,000 and 10,000 members, although its capacity to influence is much greater, since one of the main activities of this corps is the training of other combat forces in the countries of the region.
IRAN´S MOTIVE
Groups acting on Iran's behalf have often attacked U.S. forces, and experts say Iran hopes to further leverage its growing network of partners to move equipment and personnel around the Middle East to bolster the country's drive toward regional hegemony and eliminate Western powers. In recent years, Iran has sought to enhance cooperation among these forces to form a more united "axis of resistance" against mutual enemies, experts say. Israel, a major U.S. ally, also faces regular attacks from Tehran-backed groups, namely Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which share Iran's animus toward Israel and oppose its existence.
Acting through proxies is one method of evading responsibility, and Iran has successfully employed this tactic in the midst of the latest Israel-Hamas war. For example, Hamas' assault on Israel in October 2023 showed signs of coordination with Iran, and in dozens of related attacks in the months since, alleged Iranian proxy forces have killed three U.S. soldiers in Jordan and wounded dozens more at U.S. military bases across the Middle East, according to U.S. officials. Washington has also claimed that Tehran's support has allowed Yemen's Houthi rebel movement to fire missiles into Israel and attack commercial ships allegedly linked to the Hebrew state in the Red Sea, actions the Houthis called a show of solidarity with Hamas. But Iran has often avoided blaming Israel directly for such violence, and many experts say it wants to avoid open war with the United States.
THE INVOLVEMENT OF THE QUDS FORCE IN CONFLICTS
The Quds Force has been a major player in a number of Middle East conflicts, financially and armamentally assisting militias seeking victory or power.
In 1982, the Quds Force carried out its first activity as a military unit, becoming involved in the Lebanese civil war(1975-1990), following Israel's invasion of the country. In the founding manifesto of the Lebanese terrorist group, the organization pledged allegiance to Ayatollah Khomeini, as both embrace the idea of the Umma, the Islamic community; and have the same goal, to establish a Shiite Islamic regime. The birth of the Lebanese militia has much to thank the Quds Force for, as they not only received large amounts of money, but also training and sufficient arsenal to repel the Israeli invasion.
In the 1990s, the attention of Iranian forces was focused on the Republic's eastern border and provided support to the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan against an emerging force: the Taliban.
The unit became increasingly visible on the world stage in the 21st century after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the regional instability that followed the Arab Spring. In Iraq, it plays an important role in organizing and assisting the efforts of Shiite militias against US troops, coordinating especially with the Badr organization. Indeed, after the fall of Hussein's regime, US troops, along with their allies, confronted Iranian militias backed by the Quds Force. The Trump Administration blamed the deaths of 600 soldiers on Soleimani and the pro-Iranian Iraqi militias, which he formed and led.
Syria has been another arena where the Revolutionary Guard wing has extended its influence. The Quds Force has come to the aid of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, whose regime is a major ally for Iran, during the civil war that has ravaged the country since 2011. The ties between Damascus and Tehran date back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when Hafez al-Assad, Bashar's father, was the first Arab leader to recognize the new Islamic Republic of Iran.
ESCALATION OF TENSION BETWEEN IRAN AND ISRAEL
On April 1, a bombing of the Iranian Consulate in Damascus (Syria) sparked an escalation of tension between Iran and Israel, the country to which the attack on the building, which left at least 13 dead and several wounded, was attributed from the outset. Among the dead were seven members of the Quds Force and several members of the Lebanese Shiite militia party Hezbollah.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard confirmed the death of two of its generals, as well as that of five other military advisors. Several Iranian authorities accused the "fake Zionist regime" of carrying out the bombing of the consulate and linked it to the alleged "frustration" produced by the "irreparable defeats" in its war in the Gaza Strip.
As a consequence of these attacks, Iran, which also held the United States responsible for what happened, requested an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to "condemn this criminal act" in a forceful manner and to address the "violations of the norms of International Law".
The tension escalated over several days to the point where Iran threatened to retaliate. This Friday, the US intelligence announced that the country was preparing to launch an attack on Israel, which ended up being carried out this Saturday. U.S. President Joe Biden explained that it would happen "sooner rather than later" and asked not to do so in order to avoid further tension in the Middle East.
It was this Saturday when Iran launched up to 300 drones and missiles towards the country ruled by Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed late Saturday night that the attack had already been executed. IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari confirmed that a total of more than 200 missiles were launched, although most of them were intercepted outside Israeli territory.
Iranian missiles in the sky over Jerusalem
Within hours, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a triumphant pronouncement to celebrate that they had intercepted most of the missiles and drones: "We intercepted. We block. Together we will win", he wrote on X –Twitter–.
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