Qods Force
Encyclopedia
The Quds Force is a special unit of Iran
's Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Revolutionary Guard). It has been described as "tasked with exporting" Iran's Islamic revolution, or "responsible for extraterritorial operations" of the Revolutionary Guard.
The Quds Force reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Its current commander is Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani
.
While "little is reliably known" about the force by outsiders, as of 2007, its size was estimated at 15,000 troops and operatives.
as a special unit from the broader IRGC forces. After the war, Quds Force continued to support the Kurd
s fighting Saddam Hussein
, during the war it had helped the Kurds fight the Iraqi military. The Quds also expanded their operations into other areas, most notably aiding Ahmed Shah Massoud's
Northern Alliance
against the Soviets during the Soviet war in Afghanistan
and then helping Massoud after the war against Taliban forces. There were also reports of the Quds forces lending support to Muslim Bosnians
fighting the Serbs
during the Yugoslav wars
.
According to the Egypt
ian newspaper Al-Ahram
, current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad helped fund Quds Force while he was stationed at the Ramazan garrison near Iraq during the late 1980s.
, in a document from 1998, says the primary mission of the Quds Force is to organize, train, equip, and finance foreign Islamic revolutionary movements. It further states that the Quds Force maintains and builds contacts with underground Islamic militant organizations throughout the Islamic world.
In addition, Dionisi asserts in his book American Hiroshima that the Iranian Quds Force headquarters for operations in Iraq was moved in 2004 to the Iran-Iraq border in order to better supervise activities in Iraq. The Quds Force also has a headquarters based in the former compound of the US Embassy, which was overrun
in 1979. In September 2007, a few years after the "American Hiroshima" book was published, General David Petraeus reported to Congress that the Quds Force had left Iraq. Petraeus said, "The Quds Force itself, we believe, by and large those individuals have been pulled out of the country, as have the Lebanese Hezbollah trainers that were being used to augment that activity."
On July 7, 2008, Pulitzer Prize
winning author Seymour Hersh
wrote an article in the New Yorker revealing that President Bush had signed a Presidential Finding
authorizing the CIA's Special Activities Division
to conduct cross border paramilitary operations from Iraq and Afghanistan into Iran. These operations would be against al-Quds (AKA Qods Force) and “high-value targets”. “The Finding was focused on undermining Iran’s nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change,” a person familiar with its contents said, and involved “working with opposition groups.”
In the past the Quds force has also supported the establishment of Hezbollah branches in Jordan
and Israel
.
, there are debates over how independently Quds Force operates.
Mahan Abedin, director of research at the London-based Center for the Study of Terrorism (and editor of Islamism Digest journal), believes the unit is not independent at all: "Quds Force, although it's a highly specialized department, it is subject to strict, iron-clad military discipline. It's completely controlled by the military hierarchy of the IRGC, and the IRGC is very tightly controlled by the highest levels of the administration in Iran."
Quds Force is considered by some analysts as "one of the best special forces units in the world," according to a Los Angeles Times report. In Abedin's view, "[I]t's a very capable force — their people are extremely talented, [and] they tend to be the best people in the IRGC."
. The para-military instruction provided by the Quds Force typically occurs in Iran
or Sudan
. Foreign recruits are transported from their home countries to Iran to receive training. The Quds Force sometimes plays a more direct role in the military operations of the forces it trains, including pre-attack planning and other operation-specific military advice.
forces against the Taliban before the US did in its 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. Iran almost began a war in 1999 with Afghanistan when Taliban forces killed several Iranian officials. The Qods force reportedly fought alongside the US and the Northern Alliance in the Battle for Herat.
, Sa'ad bin Laden, at one point in time.
, Quds Force has been cited as possibly providing the millions of US dollars being handed out by the group Hezbollah for reconstruction.
revealed the United States Government's
allegations that the Quds Force was involved with the plot to plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States Adel al-Jubeir, which also entailed plans to bomb the Israeli
and Saudi
embassies located in Washington, D.C.
of that country, which put "165,000 American troops along [Iran's] western border," adding to the American troops already in Iran's eastern neighbor Afghanistan
.
The force "operated throughout Iraq, arming, aiding, and abetting Shiite militias" — the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Dawa
, and the Mahdi Army
— "all" of which "had close ties to Iran, some dating back decades" as part of their struggle against Saddam Hussein
's oppressive Arab nationalist regime.
In November 2006, with sectarian violence in Iraq increasing, US Gen. John Abizaid
accused Quds Force of supporting "Shi'a death squads" even while the government of Iran pledges support in stabilization. Similarly, in July 2007, Major General
Kevin Bergner of the U.S. Army alleged that members of the Quds Force aided in the planning of a raid on U.S. forces in the Iraqi city of Karbala in January 2007.
Former CIA officer Robert Baer
asserts the Quds Force uses couriers for all sensitive communications.
reported that at least four Iranians were captured by American troops in Iraq in the previous few days. According to the article, the US government suspected that two of them were members of Quds Force, which would be some of the first physical proof of Quds Force activity in Iraq. According to The Pentagon
, the alleged Quds Force members were "involved in the transfer of IED
technologies from Iran to Iraq." The two men had entered Iraq legally, although they were not accredited diplomats. Iraqi officials believed that the evidence against the men was only circumstantial, but on December 29, and under US pressure, the Iraqi government ordered the men to leave Iraq. They were driven back to Iran that day. In mid-January 2007 it was said that the two alleged Quds force officers seized by American forces were Brig. Gen. Mohsen Chirazi and Col. Abu Amad Davari. According to The Washington Post
. Chirazi is the third highest officer of Quds Force, making him the highest-ranked Iranian to ever allegedly be held by the US.
American newspaper The New York Sun reported that the documents described Quds Force as not only cooperating with Shi'a death squads, but also with fighters related to al-Qaeda
and Ansar al-Sunna. It said that Quds Force had studied the Iraq situation in a similar manner to the US Iraq Study Group
, and had concluded that they must increase efforts with Sunni and Shiite groups in order to counter the influence of Sunni states.
Alireza Nourizadeh
, a political analyst of Voice of America
, states that their arrests are causing concern in Iranian intelligence because the five alleged officials are knowledgeable of a wide range of Quds Force and Iranian activities in Iraq. According to American ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad
, one of the men in custody is Quds Force's director of operations.
Iran
ian and Iraq
i officials have maintained the detained men were part of a diplomatic mission in the city of Arbil
, Iraq
. The five Iranian detainees were still being held at a U.S. prison in Iraq as of July 8, 2007. The U.S. says they are "still being interrogated" and that it has "no plans to free them while they are seen as a security risk in Iraq". Iran says the detainees "are kidnapped diplomats" and that "they are held as hostages".
On July 9, 2009 the 5 detained diplomats in question were released from U.S. custody to Iraqi officials.
, captured four American soldiers, and subsequently killed them. The attackers passed through an Iraqi checkpoint at around 5:00pm, a total of five black GMC Suburbans, similar to those driven by US security and diplomatic officials. They were also wearing American military uniforms and spoke fluent English. Because of the sophistication of the attack, some analysts have suggested that only a group like Quds Force would be able to plan and carry out such an action. Former CIA officer Robert Baer
also suggested that the five Americans were killed by Quds Force in revenge for the Americans holding five Iranians since the January 11 raid in Irbil. It was reported that the US military is investigating whether or not the attackers were trained by Iranian officials; however, no evidence besides the sophistication of the attack has yet been presented.
On July 2, 2007, the US military said that information from captured Hezbollah fighter Ali Moussa Dakdouk established a link between Quds Force and the Karbala raid. The US military claims Dakdouk worked as a liaison between Quds force operatives and the Shia group that carried out the raid. According to the US, Dakdouk said that the Shia group "could not have conducted this complex operation without the support and direction of the Quds force."
." Two different studies have maintained that approximately half of all foreign insurgents entering Iraq come from Saudi Arabia
.
In December 2009 evidence uncovered during an investigation by the Guardian newspaper and Guardian Films linked the Quds force to the kidnappings of 5 Britons from a government ministry building in Baghdad in 2007. Three of the hostages, Jason Creswell, Jason Swindlehurst and Alec Maclachlan, were killed. Alan Mcmenemy's body was never found but Peter Moore was released on 30th December 2009. The investigation uncovered evidence that Moore, 37, a computer expert from Lincoln was targeted because he was installing a system for the Iraqi Government that would show how a vast amount of international aid was diverted to Iran's militia groups in Iraq. One of the alleged groups funded by the Quds force directly is the Righteous League, which emerged in 2006 and has stayed largely in the shadows as a proxy of the al-Quds force. Shia cleric and leading figure of the Righteous League, Qais al-Khazali, was handed over by the US military for release by the Iraqi government on December 29th 2009 as part of the deal that led to the release of Moore.
reiterated his claim that the Quds Force was causing unrest in Iraq, stating
Mohsen Sazegara
, who was a high-ranking Tehran official before turning against the government, has argued that Ahmadinejad does not control the Guards outside of Iran. "Not only the foreign ministry of Iran; even the president does not know what the Revolutionary Guards does outside of Iran. They directly report to the leader," he said, referring to Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Although Ali Khamenei is the ultimate person in charge of the Quds Force, George Bush did not mention him. According to Richard Clarke
, "Quds force reports directly to the Supreme Ayatollah, through the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary guards."
On September 22, 2007 Iraqi President
Jalal Talabani
criticized the United States for arresting the Iranian and called for his immediate release. Talabani argued he is a civil servant who was on an official trade mission in the Kurdish Region and stated Iraqi and Kurdish regional government representatives were aware of the man's presence in the country. "I express to you our outrage for these American forces arresting this Iranian civil official visitor without informing or cooperating with the government of the Kurdistan region, which means insult and disregard for its rights," Talabani wrote in a "letter of resentment" to Ryan Crocker
, U.S. ambassador to Iraq
, and Gen. David Petraeus
.
, The Jerusalem Post
, and Al Arabiya
, at the request of a member of the United States' House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, in 2011 Congressional counter-terrorism
advisor Michael S. Smith II
of Kronos Advisory, LLC
produced a report on Iran’s ties to Al-Qaeda
that was distributed to members of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus
. Titled “The al-Qa’ida-Qods Force Nexus: Scratching the Surface of a Known Unknown,” a redacted version of Smith’s report is available online via the blog site owned by American military geostrategist
and The Pentagon's New Map author Thomas P.M. Barnett. The report’s Issue Summary section explains: “This report focuses on the history of Iran’s relationship with al-Qa’ida, and briefly addresses potential implications of these ties. Additionally, its author provides a list of recommended action items for Members of the United States Congress, as well as a list of questions that may help Members develop a better understanding of this issue through interactions with defense and intelligence officials.”
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
's Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (Revolutionary Guard). It has been described as "tasked with exporting" Iran's Islamic revolution, or "responsible for extraterritorial operations" of the Revolutionary Guard.
The Quds Force reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran
Supreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran is the highest ranking political and religious authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The post was established by the constitution in accordance with the concept of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists...
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Its current commander is Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani
Qassem Suleimani
Major General haj Qassem Suleimani is the commander of the Quds Force, a division of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps , which conducts special operations outside Iran. He is listed by the United States as a terrorist, which forbids U.S. citizens from doing business with him...
.
While "little is reliably known" about the force by outsiders, as of 2007, its size was estimated at 15,000 troops and operatives.
History
The Quds Force was created during the Iran-Iraq warIran-Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran, lasting from September 1980 to August 1988, making it the longest conventional war of the twentieth century...
as a special unit from the broader IRGC forces. After the war, Quds Force continued to support the Kurd
Kürd
Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...
s fighting Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, during the war it had helped the Kurds fight the Iraqi military. The Quds also expanded their operations into other areas, most notably aiding Ahmed Shah Massoud's
Ahmed Shah Massoud
Ahmad Shah Massoud was a Kabul University engineering student turned military leader who played a leading role in driving the Soviet army out of Afghanistan, earning him the name Lion of Panjshir. His followers call him Āmir Sāhib-e Shahīd...
Northern Alliance
United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
The United Islamic Front , known in the West and Pakistan as the Northern Alliance, was a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996 under the leadership of Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud...
against the Soviets during the Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
and then helping Massoud after the war against Taliban forces. There were also reports of the Quds forces lending support to Muslim Bosnians
Bosnians
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...
fighting the Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
during the Yugoslav wars
Yugoslav wars
The Yugoslav Wars were a series of wars, fought throughout the former Yugoslavia between 1991 and 1995. The wars were complex: characterized by bitter ethnic conflicts among the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, mostly between Serbs on the one side and Croats and Bosniaks on the other; but also...
.
According to the Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian newspaper Al-Ahram
Al-Ahram
Al-Ahram , founded in 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya . It is majority owned by the Egyptian government....
, current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad helped fund Quds Force while he was stationed at the Ramazan garrison near Iraq during the late 1980s.
Mission
The Federation of American ScientistsFederation of American Scientists
The Federation of American Scientists is a nonpartisan, 501 organization intent on using science and scientific analysis to attempt make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1945 by scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic bombs...
, in a document from 1998, says the primary mission of the Quds Force is to organize, train, equip, and finance foreign Islamic revolutionary movements. It further states that the Quds Force maintains and builds contacts with underground Islamic militant organizations throughout the Islamic world.
Organization
The force is described as "active in dozens of countries." According to former U.S. Army intelligence officer David Dionisi, Quds force is organized into eight different directorates based on geographic location:- Western countriesWestern worldThe Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...
- IraqIraqIraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
- AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, PakistanPakistanPakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, and IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... - IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, and JordanJordanJordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing... - TurkeyTurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
- North AfricaNorth AfricaNorth Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...
- Arabian peninsulaArabian PeninsulaThe Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
- Republics of the former USSR
In addition, Dionisi asserts in his book American Hiroshima that the Iranian Quds Force headquarters for operations in Iraq was moved in 2004 to the Iran-Iraq border in order to better supervise activities in Iraq. The Quds Force also has a headquarters based in the former compound of the US Embassy, which was overrun
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
in 1979. In September 2007, a few years after the "American Hiroshima" book was published, General David Petraeus reported to Congress that the Quds Force had left Iraq. Petraeus said, "The Quds Force itself, we believe, by and large those individuals have been pulled out of the country, as have the Lebanese Hezbollah trainers that were being used to augment that activity."
On July 7, 2008, Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning author Seymour Hersh
Seymour Hersh
Seymour Myron Hersh is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker magazine on military and security matters...
wrote an article in the New Yorker revealing that President Bush had signed a Presidential Finding
Presidential Finding
A presidential finding is an executive directive issued by the head of the executive branch of a government, similar to the more well-known executive order. The term is mostly used by the United States Government, and in other countries may be identified by different terms...
authorizing the CIA's Special Activities Division
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
to conduct cross border paramilitary operations from Iraq and Afghanistan into Iran. These operations would be against al-Quds (AKA Qods Force) and “high-value targets”. “The Finding was focused on undermining Iran’s nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change,” a person familiar with its contents said, and involved “working with opposition groups.”
Focus of the Force
The Quds force has four main areas of interest:- Hezbollah operations in Lebanon
- Iraqi KurdistanIraqi KurdistanIraqi Kurdistan or Kurdistan Region is an autonomous region of Iraq. It borders Iran to the east, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. The regional capital is Arbil, known in Kurdish as Hewlêr...
- KashmirKashmirKashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, the Balouch and AfghanistanAfghanistanAfghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world... - And most recently YemenYemenThe Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
In the past the Quds force has also supported the establishment of Hezbollah branches in Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Size
The size of Quds Force is unknown, with some experts believing that Quds Force numbers no more than 2,000 people, with 800 core operatives, and others saying that it could number anywhere from 3,000 to 50,000.Independence and talent
While it reports directly to the Supreme Leader of IranSupreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran is the highest ranking political and religious authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The post was established by the constitution in accordance with the concept of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists...
, there are debates over how independently Quds Force operates.
Mahan Abedin, director of research at the London-based Center for the Study of Terrorism (and editor of Islamism Digest journal), believes the unit is not independent at all: "Quds Force, although it's a highly specialized department, it is subject to strict, iron-clad military discipline. It's completely controlled by the military hierarchy of the IRGC, and the IRGC is very tightly controlled by the highest levels of the administration in Iran."
Quds Force is considered by some analysts as "one of the best special forces units in the world," according to a Los Angeles Times report. In Abedin's view, "[I]t's a very capable force — their people are extremely talented, [and] they tend to be the best people in the IRGC."
Activities
The Quds Force trains and equips foreign Islamic revolutionary groups around the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The para-military instruction provided by the Quds Force typically occurs in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
or Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. Foreign recruits are transported from their home countries to Iran to receive training. The Quds Force sometimes plays a more direct role in the military operations of the forces it trains, including pre-attack planning and other operation-specific military advice.
Afghanistan
Iran had supported the Afghan Northern AllianceUnited Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan
The United Islamic Front , known in the West and Pakistan as the Northern Alliance, was a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996 under the leadership of Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud...
forces against the Taliban before the US did in its 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. Iran almost began a war in 1999 with Afghanistan when Taliban forces killed several Iranian officials. The Qods force reportedly fought alongside the US and the Northern Alliance in the Battle for Herat.
Al Qaeda
Iran is believed by some to have detained the son of Osama bin LadenOsama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
, Sa'ad bin Laden, at one point in time.
Lebanon
After the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
The 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War #Other uses|Tammūz]]) and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War , was a 34-day military conflict in Lebanon, northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. The principal parties were Hezbollah...
, Quds Force has been cited as possibly providing the millions of US dollars being handed out by the group Hezbollah for reconstruction.
United States
On October 11, 2011, the Obama AdministrationPresidency of Barack Obama
The Presidency of Barack Obama began at noon EST on January 20, 2009 when he became the 44th President of the United States. Obama was a United States Senator from Illinois at the time of his victory over Arizona Senator John McCain in the 2008 presidential election...
revealed the United States Government's
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
allegations that the Quds Force was involved with the plot to plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States Adel al-Jubeir, which also entailed plans to bomb the Israeli
Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C.
The Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C. is the diplomatic mission of the State of Israel to the United States. It is located at 3514 International Drive, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Cleveland Park neighborhood.The Ambassador is Michael B. Oren....
and Saudi
Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C.
The Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C. is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's diplomatic mission to the United States. It's located at 601 New Hampshire Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood, near the Watergate complex, and Kennedy Center.The current Ambassador...
embassies located in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
South America
It's been reported that Iran has been increasing its presence in Latin America through Venezuela. Little is known publicly what their objectives are in the region but in 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates denounced Iran for meddling in "subversive activities" using Qud forces. However, Iran claims it is merely "ensuring the survival of the regime" by propagating regional influence. As far back as 1994, Quds were suspected of financing and aiding Hezbollah in a 1994 attack at the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires which resulted in the deaths of 85 victims.Iraq
Quds Force has been described as the Iranian "unit deployed to challenge the United State presence" in Iraq following the US invasion2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
of that country, which put "165,000 American troops along [Iran's] western border," adding to the American troops already in Iran's eastern neighbor Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
.
The force "operated throughout Iraq, arming, aiding, and abetting Shiite militias" — the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Dawa
Islamic Dawa Party
The Islamic Dawa Party or Islamic Call Party is a political party in Iraq. Dawa and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council are two of the main parties in the religious-Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, which won a plurality of seats in both the provisional January 2005 Iraqi election and the longer-term...
, and the Mahdi Army
Mahdi Army
The Mahdi Army, also known as the Mahdi Militia or Jaish al-Mahdi , was an Iraqi paramilitary force created by the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in June 2003....
— "all" of which "had close ties to Iran, some dating back decades" as part of their struggle against Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
's oppressive Arab nationalist regime.
In November 2006, with sectarian violence in Iraq increasing, US Gen. John Abizaid
John Abizaid
John Philip Abizaid, AO is a retired General in the United States Army and former Commander of the United States Central Command , overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much of the Middle...
accused Quds Force of supporting "Shi'a death squads" even while the government of Iran pledges support in stabilization. Similarly, in July 2007, Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Kevin Bergner of the U.S. Army alleged that members of the Quds Force aided in the planning of a raid on U.S. forces in the Iraqi city of Karbala in January 2007.
Former CIA officer Robert Baer
Robert Baer
Robert "Bob" Booker Baer is an American author and a former CIA case officer assigned to the Middle East. He is TIME.com's intelligence columnist and has contributed to Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Baer is a frequent commentator and author about issues related to...
asserts the Quds Force uses couriers for all sensitive communications.
2006 detainment in Iraq
On December 24, 2006, American newspaper The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that at least four Iranians were captured by American troops in Iraq in the previous few days. According to the article, the US government suspected that two of them were members of Quds Force, which would be some of the first physical proof of Quds Force activity in Iraq. According to The Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
, the alleged Quds Force members were "involved in the transfer of IED
Improvised explosive device
An improvised explosive device , also known as a roadside bomb, is a homemade bomb constructed and deployed in ways other than in conventional military action...
technologies from Iran to Iraq." The two men had entered Iraq legally, although they were not accredited diplomats. Iraqi officials believed that the evidence against the men was only circumstantial, but on December 29, and under US pressure, the Iraqi government ordered the men to leave Iraq. They were driven back to Iran that day. In mid-January 2007 it was said that the two alleged Quds force officers seized by American forces were Brig. Gen. Mohsen Chirazi and Col. Abu Amad Davari. According to The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
. Chirazi is the third highest officer of Quds Force, making him the highest-ranked Iranian to ever allegedly be held by the US.
American newspaper The New York Sun reported that the documents described Quds Force as not only cooperating with Shi'a death squads, but also with fighters related to al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
and Ansar al-Sunna. It said that Quds Force had studied the Iraq situation in a similar manner to the US Iraq Study Group
Iraq Study Group
The Iraq Study group , was a ten-person bipartisan panel appointed on March 15, 2006, by the United States Congress, that was charged with assessing the situation in Iraq and the US-led Iraq War and making policy recommendations...
, and had concluded that they must increase efforts with Sunni and Shiite groups in order to counter the influence of Sunni states.
US raid on Iranian liaison office
On January 11, 2007, US forces raided and detained five employees of the Iranian liaison office in Irbil, Iraq. The US military says the five detainees are connected to the Quds Force. The operation has drawn protests from the regional Kurdish government while the Russian government called the detainments unacceptable.Alireza Nourizadeh
Alireza Nourizadeh
Alireza Nourizadeh is an Iranian scholar, literary figure, journalist and an expert on Iranian contemporary history.Nourizadeh is a political refugee from Iran. After fleeing to Great Britain, he obtained his PhD from the University of London in International Relations. Nourizadeh has been active...
, a political analyst of Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
, states that their arrests are causing concern in Iranian intelligence because the five alleged officials are knowledgeable of a wide range of Quds Force and Iranian activities in Iraq. According to American ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad
Zalmay Khalilzad
Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad is a counselor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and president of Khalilzad Associates, an international business consulting firm based in Washington, DC. He was the United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush...
, one of the men in custody is Quds Force's director of operations.
Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i officials have maintained the detained men were part of a diplomatic mission in the city of Arbil
Arbil
Arbil / Hewlêr is the fourth largest city in Iraq after Baghdad, Basra and Mosul...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. The five Iranian detainees were still being held at a U.S. prison in Iraq as of July 8, 2007. The U.S. says they are "still being interrogated" and that it has "no plans to free them while they are seen as a security risk in Iraq". Iran says the detainees "are kidnapped diplomats" and that "they are held as hostages".
On July 9, 2009 the 5 detained diplomats in question were released from U.S. custody to Iraqi officials.
Allegations of involvement in Karbala attack
On January 20, 2007, a group of gunmen attacked the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center in KarbalaKarbala
Karbala is a city in Iraq, located about southwest of Baghdad. Karbala is the capital of Karbala Governorate, and has an estimated population of 572,300 people ....
, captured four American soldiers, and subsequently killed them. The attackers passed through an Iraqi checkpoint at around 5:00pm, a total of five black GMC Suburbans, similar to those driven by US security and diplomatic officials. They were also wearing American military uniforms and spoke fluent English. Because of the sophistication of the attack, some analysts have suggested that only a group like Quds Force would be able to plan and carry out such an action. Former CIA officer Robert Baer
Robert Baer
Robert "Bob" Booker Baer is an American author and a former CIA case officer assigned to the Middle East. He is TIME.com's intelligence columnist and has contributed to Vanity Fair, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. Baer is a frequent commentator and author about issues related to...
also suggested that the five Americans were killed by Quds Force in revenge for the Americans holding five Iranians since the January 11 raid in Irbil. It was reported that the US military is investigating whether or not the attackers were trained by Iranian officials; however, no evidence besides the sophistication of the attack has yet been presented.
On July 2, 2007, the US military said that information from captured Hezbollah fighter Ali Moussa Dakdouk established a link between Quds Force and the Karbala raid. The US military claims Dakdouk worked as a liaison between Quds force operatives and the Shia group that carried out the raid. According to the US, Dakdouk said that the Shia group "could not have conducted this complex operation without the support and direction of the Quds force."
Allegations of support for Iraqi militants
In June 2007 US General Ray Odierno asserted that Iranian support for these Shia militia increased as the US itself implemented the 2007 "troop surgeIraq War troop surge of 2007
In the context of the Iraq War, the surge refers to United States President George W. Bush's 2007 increase in the number of American troops in order to provide security to Baghdad and Al Anbar Province....
." Two different studies have maintained that approximately half of all foreign insurgents entering Iraq come from Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
.
In December 2009 evidence uncovered during an investigation by the Guardian newspaper and Guardian Films linked the Quds force to the kidnappings of 5 Britons from a government ministry building in Baghdad in 2007. Three of the hostages, Jason Creswell, Jason Swindlehurst and Alec Maclachlan, were killed. Alan Mcmenemy's body was never found but Peter Moore was released on 30th December 2009. The investigation uncovered evidence that Moore, 37, a computer expert from Lincoln was targeted because he was installing a system for the Iraqi Government that would show how a vast amount of international aid was diverted to Iran's militia groups in Iraq. One of the alleged groups funded by the Quds force directly is the Righteous League, which emerged in 2006 and has stayed largely in the shadows as a proxy of the al-Quds force. Shia cleric and leading figure of the Righteous League, Qais al-Khazali, was handed over by the US military for release by the Iraqi government on December 29th 2009 as part of the deal that led to the release of Moore.
Allegations by U.S. President Bush
In a February 14, 2007 news conference US President George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
reiterated his claim that the Quds Force was causing unrest in Iraq, stating
“I can say with certainty that the Quds force, a part of the Iranian government, has provided these sophisticated IEDs that have harmed our troops. And I'd like to repeat, I do not know whether or not the Quds force was ordered from the top echelons of government. But my point is what's worse -- them ordering it and it happening, or them not ordering it and it happening? And so we will continue to protect our troops. …to say it [this claim] is provoking Iran is just a wrong way to characterize the Commander-in-Chief's decision to do what is necessary to protect our soldiers in harm's way. And I will continue to do so. …Whether Ahmadinejad ordered the Quds force to do this, I don't think we know. But we do know that they're there, and I intend to do something about it. And I've asked our commanders to do something about it. And we're going to protect our troops.…I don't think we know who picked up the phone and said to the Quds force, go do this, but we know it's a vital part of the Iranian government. …What matters is, is that we're responding. The idea that somehow we're manufacturing the idea that the Iranians are providing IEDs is preposterous...My job is to protect our troops. And when we find devices that are in that country that are hurting our troops, we're going to do something about it, pure and simple. …does this mean you're trying to have a pretext for war? No. It means I'm trying to protect our troops.”
Mohsen Sazegara
Mohsen Sazegara
Mohsen Sazegara is an Iranian journalist and pro-democracy political activist. Dr. Sazegara held several high ranking positions in the Government of Mir-Hossein Mousavi, such as deputy prime minister, minister of industry, deputy chairman of the budget and planning department, and many more before...
, who was a high-ranking Tehran official before turning against the government, has argued that Ahmadinejad does not control the Guards outside of Iran. "Not only the foreign ministry of Iran; even the president does not know what the Revolutionary Guards does outside of Iran. They directly report to the leader," he said, referring to Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Although Ali Khamenei is the ultimate person in charge of the Quds Force, George Bush did not mention him. According to Richard Clarke
Richard A. Clarke
Richard Alan Clarke was a U.S. government employee for 30 years, 1973–2003. He worked for the State Department during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush appointed him to chair the Counter-terrorism Security Group and to a seat on the United States National...
, "Quds force reports directly to the Supreme Ayatollah, through the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary guards."
Detainment of alleged bomb smuggler
On September 20, 2007 the US military arrested an Iranian during a raid on a hotel in Sulaimaniyah, a city in the Kurdish-controlled north. The military accused the Iranian of being a member of the elite Quds Force and smuggling powerful roadside bombs, including armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators (EFPS), into Iraq. The military said intelligence reports asserted the suspect was involved in the infiltration and training of foreign fighters into Iraq as well.On September 22, 2007 Iraqi President
President of Iraq
The President of Iraq is the head of state of Iraq and "safeguards the commitment to the Constitution and the preservation of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, unity, the security of its territories in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution." The President is elected by the Council of...
Jalal Talabani
Jalal Talabani
Jalal Talabani is the sixth and current President of Iraq, a leading Kurdish politician. He is the first non-Arab president of Iraq, although Abdul Kareem Qasim was half Kurdish....
criticized the United States for arresting the Iranian and called for his immediate release. Talabani argued he is a civil servant who was on an official trade mission in the Kurdish Region and stated Iraqi and Kurdish regional government representatives were aware of the man's presence in the country. "I express to you our outrage for these American forces arresting this Iranian civil official visitor without informing or cooperating with the government of the Kurdistan region, which means insult and disregard for its rights," Talabani wrote in a "letter of resentment" to Ryan Crocker
Ryan Crocker
Ryan Clark Crocker is a Career Ambassador within the United States Foreign Service and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He currently is the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan. He was the United States Ambassador to Iraq until 2009; he previously served as the U.S...
, U.S. ambassador to Iraq
United States Ambassador to Iraq
This is a list of United States ambassadors, or lower-ranking heads of a diplomatic mission to Iraq.* Alexander K. Sloan - Chargé d'Affaires* Paul Knabenshue - Minister* Thomas M. Wilson - Minister* Loy W...
, and Gen. David Petraeus
David Petraeus
David Howell Petraeus is the current Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, sworn in on September 6, 2011. Prior to his assuming the directorship of the CIA, Petraeus was a four-star general serving over 37 years in the United States Army. His last assignments in the Army were as commander...
.
Allegations of 2007 market attack
On November 24, 2007 military officials accused an Iranian special group of placing a bomb in a bird box that blew up at a popular animal market in central Baghdad. “The group’s purpose was to make it appear Al Qaeda in Iraq was responsible for the attack,” Admiral Smith said. He further emphasized there was “no evidence Iran ordered the attack.” In May 2008, Iraq said it had no evidence that Iran was supporting militants on Iraqi soil. Al-Sadr spokesman Al-Ubaydi said the presence of Iranian weapons in Iraq is "quite normal," since "they are bought and sold and any party can buy them."Allegations of ties to Al-Qaeda
According to reports produced by Agence France-PresseAgence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
, The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
, and Al Arabiya
Al Arabiya
Al Arabiya is a Pan-Arabist Saudi-owned Arabic-language television news channel. Launched on March 3, 2003, the channel is based in Dubai Media City, United Arab Emirates, and is majority-owned by the Saudi broadcaster Middle East Broadcasting Center ....
, at the request of a member of the United States' House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, in 2011 Congressional counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
advisor Michael S. Smith II
Michael S. Smith II
Michael S. Smith II is a counter-terrorism advisor to members of the United States Congress, gray area phenomena subject-matter expert, and a founder of Kronos Advisory, LLC, a U.S.-based firm established in 2011 by Medal of Honor recipient MajGen James E...
of Kronos Advisory, LLC
Kronos Advisory, LLC
Kronos Advisory, LLC is a U.S.-based company that, according to Dun & Bradstreet, conducts business in the areas of national security and international affairs. According to the firm’s website , Kronos is a strategic advisory firm established in 2011 by Medal of Honor recipient James E...
produced a report on Iran’s ties to Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
that was distributed to members of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus
Caucus
A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a political party or movement, especially in the United States and Canada. As the use of the term has been expanded the exact definition has come to vary among political cultures.-Origin of the term:...
. Titled “The al-Qa’ida-Qods Force Nexus: Scratching the Surface of a Known Unknown,” a redacted version of Smith’s report is available online via the blog site owned by American military geostrategist
Geostrategy
Geostrategy, a subfield of geopolitics, is a type of foreign policy guided principally by geographical factors as they inform, constrain, or affect political and military planning...
and The Pentagon's New Map author Thomas P.M. Barnett. The report’s Issue Summary section explains: “This report focuses on the history of Iran’s relationship with al-Qa’ida, and briefly addresses potential implications of these ties. Additionally, its author provides a list of recommended action items for Members of the United States Congress, as well as a list of questions that may help Members develop a better understanding of this issue through interactions with defense and intelligence officials.”