Quds Force

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Army of the Guardians of
the Islamic Revolution
Branches
Air Force
Ground Force
Navy
Jerusalem Force
Basij
Personnel
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The Quds Force (also Qods Force, Persian: نیروی قدس‎), in full English Jerusalem Force, is a special unit of Iran's Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (often called "revolutionary guards" in the west). Quds is the Arabic word for Jerusalem. The primary mission of the Jerusalem Force is to organize, train, equip, and finance foreign Islamic revolutionary movements. The force is tasked with exporting Iran’s Islamic revolution to other countries.[1] Although the Quds Force mainly provides support to Shi‘ite groups like Hezbollah, the Mahdi Army, and the Badr Organization, it also helps Sunni Islamist groups like Hamas.[2] [3] The Quds Force maintains and builds contacts with underground Islamic militant organizations throughout the Arab World.[4] It also collects global strategic and military intelligence, possibly having operatives in the United States. The Quds Force reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.[5][6] Its current commander is Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani.

Contents

[edit] History

Because its operations are secret, little is known about the history of the Jerusalem Force. According to an Iranian resistance group, the Jerusalem Force was originally called the Lebanon Corps, and was responsible for the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing.[7] This became Quds Force in 1990, when a variety of Iranian intelligence and foreign agencies were merged to form a new extraterritorial force. The first commander was also the former head of the Intelligence Directorate of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Brig. Gen. Ahmad Vahidi.[7] According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad helped found Quds Force while he was stationed at the Ramazan garrison near Iraq during the late 1980s.[8]

The first operations of Quds Force or its predecessors was in Iraq towards the end of the Iran-Iraq War. After the war, Quds Force continued to support the Kurds fighting Saddam Hussein, as well as Ahmed Shah Massoud's Northern Alliance against the Taliban and Muslim Bosnians fighting the Serbians.[9]

The group was accused of being involved in the 1994 AMIA Bombing , which killed 85 people in Argentina. It is also believed that Quds Force provided training for the militants who carried out the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing (those bombing were organized by Osama Bin Laden and others) in Saudi Arabia.[10]

[edit] Organization

According to former US army intelligence officer David Dionisi, Quds force is organized into eight different directorates based on geographic location:[11][12]

In addition, Dionisi says that the Iranian headquarters of Quds Force was moved in 2004 from central Iran to the Iran-Iraq border in order to better supervise their Iraqi activities.[11] However other reports say that Quds Force is actually based in the former compound of the US Embassy, which was overrun in 1979.

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.[13][14][15] While it reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, there are debates over how independently Quds Force operates. Quds Force is considered by terrorism analysts as "one of the best special forces units in the world."[13]

[edit] Recent activities

The Quds Force trains and equips foreign Islamic revolutionary groups around the Middle East. 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.[11]

[edit] Afghanistan

Iran had supported the Afghan Northern Alliance forces against the Taliban before the US invasion of Afghanistan, and almost began a war in 1999 when Taliban forces killed several Iranian officials.[16] [17]

[edit] Al Qaeda

According to the American neoconservative magazine The Weekly Standard, Quds Force has maintained some kind of relationship with the leadership of al-Qaeda since at least the mid-1990s. After the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan in late 2001, al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri is reported to have contacted Iranian authorities and secured the safe passage and harbor for numerous al-Qaeda members, perhaps including the late head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi.[18] Although Iran is hostile to the Taliban and al-Qaeda, some Washington observers speculated that it was IRC forces who were pursuing the idea of joint action.[19] Iran has since acknowledged that a number of al-Qaeda leaders and members are in their custody, possibly including the son of Osama bin Laden, Saad bin Laden.[20][21]

[edit] Lebanon

After the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, Quds Force has been cited as possibly providing the millions of US dollars being handed out by the group Hezbollah for reconstruction.[22]

[edit] Iraq

Other reports have said that Quds Force has taken an active role in Iraq since September 2002, when they allegedly began building pro-Iranian militant groups in anticipation of the US led invasion of Iraq in early 2003. Since then they have been accused of providing training and financial support to cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and open borders to several members of the group Ansar al-Islam.[18] The Italian intelligence service SIMSI said that Sadr and other militant groups were receiving US$70 million per month.[23] The militant Iranian dissident group the People's Mujahedin of Iran has reportedly provided the US army with information as to the names of Quds Force commanders operating in Iraq and the networks they are facilitating to distribute arms from Iran.[24] In November 2006, with sectarian violence in Iraq increasing, US Gen. John Abizaid accused Quds Force of supporting "Shia death squads" even while the government of Iran pledges support in stabilization.[25]

On January 5, 2007, Alireza Jafarzadeh, who gained recognition for revealing the existence of secret Iranian nuclear activities, spoke for the Iran Policy Committee in Washington, where he revealed details of Quds for commanders and operations in Iraq. According to him, Quds Force in Iraq is run by a Brigadier General Abtahi, a veteran of Iranian activities in Lebanon. It is headquartered at Fajir Base, in the Iranian city Ahwaz.[26] In Iraq itself, Quds Force is based in the city of Najaf near the offices of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. It operates under the name Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf Al-Saqafieh Establishment, a purported cultural institution. According to former CIA officer Robert Baer, Quds Force uses couriers for all sensitive communications.[27]

[edit] 2006 arrests in Iraq

On December 24, 2006, The New York Times 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 Qods Force activity in Iraq.[28] The president of an Iranian opposition group confirmed this from her own intelligence sources.[29] According to the Pentagon, the Quds Force members were "involved in the transfer of IED technologies from Iran to Iraq."[29] 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.[30] In mid-January 2007 it was revealed that the two 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 be held by the US.[31]

Several days after their release reports emerged as to the information contained in the documents seized with the two men. The New York Sun reported that the documents described Quds Force as not only cooperating with Shiite death squads, but also with fighters related to al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sunna. They also 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 extremist Sunni states.[32]

[edit] 2007 arrests in Iraq

Main article: US attack on Iranian liaison office in Arbil
Further information: Kill or Capture strategy

On January 11, 2007, US forces raided and arrested several people in the Iranian liaison office in Irbil, Iraq. The US military says the five detainees are connected to the Quds Force.[33][34] Their arrests are causing concern in Iranian intelligence, because the five officials are knowledgeable of a wide range of Quds Force and Iranian activities in Iraq.[35] According to American ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, one of the men in custody is Quds Force's director of operations.[36]

[edit] Allegations of involvement in Karbala attack

Main article: Karbala provincial headquarters raid

On January 20, 2007, a group of gunmen attacked the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, kidnapped four American soldiers, and subsequently executed 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.[37] Former CIA officer Robert Baer also suggested that the five Americans were killed by Qods Force in revenge for the Americans holding five Qods Force officers since the January 11 raid in Irbil.[38]

This speculation was confirmed by later press reports, which said that the US military is investigating whether or not the attackers were trained by Iranian officials;[39] however, no evidence besides the sophistication of the attack has yet been presented.

[edit] Allegations of support for Iraqi militants

Main article: Iranian Support for Lethal Activity in Iraq

A New York Times report on February 9, 2007, said that US intelligence has confirmed that Quds Force has provided Shia militants in Iraq with Iranian made explosively formed penetrators (EFP), which have been called the most effective improvised explosive device used against American troops.[40] Many of these have been brought into Iraq at night at the border crossing at Mehran. Two days later US military commanders in Iraq gave a briefing to reporters, in which they displayed EFPs with what they said are Iranian serial numbers. According to them, these devices have killed over 170 Americans in Iraq.[41] President Bush himself reaffirmed the information several days later.[42] Despite this, some members of the US military and intelligence community are unsure if Iranian leaders are actually behind the delivery of weapons.[43] On February 21, Newsweek revealed that the US military briefer in Iraq had strayed form his script when he said that Iranian at the highest levels were involved in the weapons shipments.[44]

These claims were denied by senior Iranian leaders. "They condemn us for making problems in Iraq, but they don't have any documentary proof," Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hossaini told reporters. "Lots of this evidence is fake, artificial. For example, when they wanted to start a war in Iraq, they made plenty of evidence that there were lots of weapons in Iraq, though the investigators of the International Atomic Energy Agency said they couldn't find any weapons in Iraq," he said. "Right now they're using weapons [with certain markings], but it doesn't prove where these weapons came from.[45]

[edit] Bush blames Quds Force

In a February 14, 2007 news conference US President George W. Bush continued to say 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.”[46]

Although Ali Khamenei is the ultimate person in charge of the Quds Force, George Bush did not mention him.[47] In fact, George Bush has never mentioned Khamenei as an authority in the hierarchy of Iran's government structure.

According to Richard Clarke, "Quds force reports directly to the Supreme Ayatollah, through the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary guards."[47]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Interview with Major General Michael Barbero" (Deputy Director for Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S.). The Hugh Hewitt Show, March 20, 2007. Retrieved March 26, 2007.
  2. ^ Hamas Sends Gazans for Military Training in Iran, Israeli Security Aide Says, International Herald Tribune, March 5, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2007.
  3. ^ "Israeli Says Iran Is Training Hamas Men", The New York Times, March 6, 2007. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
  4. ^
  5. ^ Dionisi, 7
  6. ^ "Iran demands nationals' release", BBC, 14 January 2007. Retrieved on Feb. 14, 2007
  7. ^ a b "Qods Force: Iranian regime's instrument for extraterritorial terror activities", Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistence of Iran, December 26, 2006. Retrieved December 27, 2006
  8. ^ Nawar, Ibrahim. "Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Justice versus freedom", Al-Ahram, June 30, 2005. Retrieved January 7, 2006.
  9. ^ Hirsh, Michael; Dehghanpisheh, Babak; Hosenball, Mark. "The New Enemy?", Newsweek, February 15, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  10. ^ Landay, Jonathan S. "Secretive force at center of tensions between U.S., Iran", The Mercury News, February 22, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
  11. ^ a b c Dionisis, 8
  12. ^ The Qods Force
  13. ^ a b Daragahi, Borzou and Spiegel, Peter. "Iran's elite and mysterious fighters", Los Angeles Times, February 15, 2007. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  14. ^ "Experts: Iran's Quds Force Deeply Enmeshed in Iraq", Fox News, February 15, 2007. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  15. ^ Shane, Scott. "Iranian Force, Focus of U.S., Still a Mystery", The New York Times, February 17, 2007. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
  16. ^ "The Elusive Quds Force: The Iranian Special Ops unit accused of meddling in Iraq has a fierce history and powerful friends", Newsweek, February 26, 2007. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
  17. ^ Karon, Tony. "TIME.com Primer: The Taliban and Afghanistan", Time Magazine, September 18, 2001. Retrieved October 16, 2006.
  18. ^ a b Darling, Dan. "General Panic", The Weekly Standard, October 5, 2005. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
  19. ^ Borger, Julian. "Al-Qaida helped to flee, US says", January 11, 2002. Retrieved October 15, 2006.
  20. ^ Saad bin Laden: The Key to Iranian-al-Qaeda Detente?
  21. ^ Zagorin, Adam and Klein, Joe. "9/11 Commission Finds Ties Between al-Qaeda and Iran", Time Magazine, July 16, 2004. Retrieved October 15, 2006.
  22. ^ Foroohar, Kambiz. "Hezbollah, With $100 Bills, Struggles to Repair Lebanon Damage", September 28, 2006. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
  23. ^ Rubin, Michael. "The Puppetmasters", April 12, 2004. Retrieved October 1, 2006.
  24. ^ Pound, Edward T. "Special Report: The Iran Connection", U.S. News & World Report, November 22, 2004. Retrieved November 1, 2006.
  25. ^ "Gen. Abizaid On Stabilizing Iraq", 60 Minutes, November 26, 2006. Retrieved November 27, 2006.
  26. ^ Qods Force steps up terrorism, heightens sectarian violence, and expands proxies in Iraq (SPC), Strategic Policy Consulting, January 5, 2007. Retrieved January 9, 2007.
  27. ^ Baer, Robert. "Where's the Smoking Gun on Iran?", Time Magazine, February 13, 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2007.
  28. ^ Glanz, James and Tavernise, Sabrina. "U.S. Is Holding Iranians Seized in Raids in Iraq", The New York Times, December 24, 2006. Retrieved December 25, 2006.
  29. ^ a b Lekic, Slobodan. "Group: Iranians Were Part of Elite Force", The Washington Post, December 28, 2006. Retrieved December 28, 2006.
  30. ^ Tavernise, Sabrina and Glanz, James. "U.S. and Iraq Dispute Role of Iranians but Free Them", The New York Times, December 29, 2006. Retrieved December 30, 2006.
  31. ^ Wright, Robin and Trejos, Nancy. "Iranians captured inside Iraq", The Washington Post, January 12, 2007. Retrieved January 13, 2007.
  32. ^ Lake, Eli. "Iran's Secret Plan For Mayhem", The New York Sun, January 3, 2007. Retrieved January 3, 2007.
  33. ^ Arrested Iranians tied to group arming Iraqis: U.S. Reuters 14 January 2007
  34. ^ Iran complains to U.N. over diplomats' arrest -TV Reuters, 20 January 2007
  35. ^ Zadeh, Ali Nouri. "US-Held Iranians Source of Major Concern for Tehran", Asharq Alawsat, January 23, 2007. Retrieved January 24, 2007.
  36. ^ Hurst, Steven. "U.S. Envoy: Guard Quds Director Detained", The Guardian, Januar 24, 2007. Retrieved January 25, 2007.
  37. ^ Schippert, Steve. "Qods Force, Karbala and the Language of War", Threats Watch, January 29, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
  38. ^ Baer, Bob. "Are the Iranians Out for Revenge?", Time Magazine, Januar 30, 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2007.
  39. ^ Glanz, James and Mazzetti, Mark. "Iran May Have Trained Attackers That Killed 5 American Soldiers, U.S. and Iraqis Say", The New York Times, Januar 30, 2007. Retrieved January 31, 2007.
  40. ^ Gordon, Michael R. "Deadliest Bomb in Iraq Is Made by Iran, U.S. Says", The New York Times, February 9, 2007. Retrieved February 9, 2007.
  41. ^ Glanz, James. "U.S. Says Arms Link Iranians to Iraqi Shiites", The New York Times, February 12, 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2007.
  42. ^ Stout, David and Knowlton, Brian. "Bush Says Iran Is Source of Deadly Bombs", The New York Times, February 14, 2007. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
  43. ^ Mazzetti, Mark and Gordon, Michael R.. "Fissures emerge on Iran's role in Iraq attacks", International Herald Tribune, February 14, 2007. Retrieved February 14, 2007
  44. ^ Isikoff, Michael and Hosenball, Mark. "Straying From the Script", Newsweek, February 21, 2007. Retrieved February 22, 2007.
  45. ^ Kim Murphy. "Iran seen as key to untangling Iraq", LA Times, February 13, 2007. Retrieved on Feb. 14, 2007
  46. ^ "Press Conference by the President", Office of the Press Secretary, February 14, 2007. Retrieved on Feb. 14, 2007
  47. ^ a b Who's Behind Iran's Death Squad? ABC News, 14 February 2007

[edit] References

  • Dionisi, David J. American Hiroshima: The Reasons Why and a Call to Strengthen America's Democracy. Traffor Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1-4120-4421-9



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