Indicators suggest that Tehran supports the Houthi anti-ship missile attack against the US Navy this past week. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps held the US directly responsible for the devastating Saudi-led coalition bombing last week in Sanaa, Yemen. The IRGC sought to pressure the US in order to push the Saudis to deescalate the war, calculating that the US wants to avoid more involvement in the war in Yemen.
A major battle has commenced in Aleppo between the array of pro-government and opposition forces that include Sunni and Shiite jihadists. Another high-ranking former IRGC commander has been killed in Syria. Iranian media claim he died while undertaking “advisory mission,” but Guard commanders are engaged in direct combat operations, as well.
Qods Force Commander Major General Qassem Soleimani was in Tehran today visiting the families of Iranians who lost members in Syria, after a confirmed sighting in Iraqi Kurdistan on Oct. 23.
The Basij Fatehin special forces, an all-volunteer group established following the 2009 post-election protests that serves as a “model” auxiliary unit to the IRGC Ground Forces in Syria, will expand to boost the IRGC’s operational capabilities. The Fatehin commander has proclaimed that the participation of this unit and IRGC-backed foreign proxies in Syria herald the formation of a global Basij, and that the Fatehin is “ready to conquer Israel.”
IRGC-QF Commander Qassem Soleimani was spotted in Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government area yesterday visiting the family of a deceased Kurdish Peshmarga commander. The visit marked the first confirmed sighting of Soleimani in Iraq since the siege of Mosul was launched last week.
Top commanders in the Quds Brigade, a Palestinian militia allied with the Syrian government that operates in Aleppo, have been photographed receiving medals from Russian military officers for battlefield victories.
Two top officials from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF) delivered remarks commemorating the most senior IRGC commander killed in Syria last year. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC-QF, spoke about the strategic importance of Syria, and claimed that the Islamic State was established with the goal of threatening Iran.
The influence and reach of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iran’s economy and military is so extensive that it stands to be a primary beneficiary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, according to a report issued yesterday by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
On Saturday, Yemeni Houthi rebels fired projectiles against an Emirati military vessel in the strategic Mandeb Strait. The U.S. Navy has dispatched three warships to the area. U.S. officials say Iran supplied “shoulder-fired rockets.” [Update: military experts say this claim is inconsistent with footage from the video and damage to the vessel]
The death of a senior IRGC special forces officer indicates the pivotal role of the IRGC-GF in training militias, planning operations, and leading forces in combat. The IRGC-GF augments the Qods Force, the IRGC’s extraterritorial operations branch.
An Iranian media outlet citing unnamed sources has claimed that security forces have killed the designated emir of the Islamic State in Iran. The narrative matches some of the accounts of an operation confirmed by authorities last month. Iranian officials and major news outlets, however, have not commented on the latest claims.
The Quds Brigade, known as Liwa al Quds or the Syrian Arab Army Fedayeen, is a Palestinian paramilitary group fighting on the side of Bashar al Assad in Aleppo.
A top IRGC commander said the Guard, Lebanese Hezbollah, and the Syrian Arab Army provide intelligence to Russia for airstrikes in Syria.
A senior commander in the Iraqi Asa’ib Ahl al Haq militia who was close to IRGC-QF commander Qassem Soleimani has been killed in Aleppo, Syria.
The IRGC’s construction arm is helping to develop a massive complex in a Shiite shrine in Najaf Iraq. Its partner, the Headquarters for the Restoration of Holy Shrines, is a front organization for the Qods Force.
Iraqi Shiite militia leader Akram al Kabi has met with top Iranian government official in Iran. Kabi, who is a member of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces that has become an official part of the Iraqi government, boldly proclaimed his allegiance to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force, was spotted in southern Aleppo on September 6, inspecting the positions of Iraqi Shiite militia Harakat al Nujaba in advance of assaults.
In a revealing interview, a retired senior IRGC commander who has deployed to Syria discussed a wide range of issues. He praised the Afghan militia fighting for the IRGC in Syria, and claimed that a “Shia liberation army” is forming, with the ultimate goal of destroying Israel. The commander’s talk about his mission in Syria reflects the IRGC’s pattern of deployment since its military escalation in October 2015.
Qassem Soleimani will play a “major” role in upcoming operations to retake Mosul from the Islamic State, according to the spokesman of the Iraqi Population Mobilization Front.
After the jihadist-led Jaish al Fatah and Syrian rebel groups succeeded in breaking the siege of Aleppo, an Iranian media outlet has reported the deployment of elite Lebanese Hezbollah and Iraqi Harakat al Nujaba to cut the opposition’s artery to the rebel-held eastern side of the city. [Update: IRGC confirms rank of officer announced dead on Monday as Major].
Iran has announced casualties coinciding with the latest battles for Aleppo, reflecting its deep military involvement in Syria.
Iranian media reported on July 27 that the IRGC Basij chief inspected Quneitra in the Golan Heights by the demarcation with Israel.
An Iranian media outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps ran a report claiming Lebanese Hezbollah is training special forces of the Afghan Fatemiyoun Division for combat in Syria.
A former Iranian government official claims Tuesday’s appointment of a new armed forces chief means several changes for the Iranian military including a boost in Qods Force capabilities and enhancement of Iran’s “geopolitical agility.”
Iran has appointed a new Armed Forces General Staff chief amid a shakeup. Iran’s official armed forces media outlet has reprinted a 2014 interview with the senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, in which he reiterated Tehran’s security red lines and priorities, warning that Iran would directly intervene in Iraq if Baghdad were threatened.
A short clip has circulated on Arab Twitter accounts claiming to show an Iranian who was arrested in Fallujah, Iraq. [Update: the video is from 2005]
The IRGC’s officer college yesterday held a funeral ceremony for a comrade killed during an “advisory mission” in Syria. The college’s chief commander acknowledged last month that college officers rotate to Syrian combat zones. Addressing the funeral ceremony, the college’s top political commissar stressed the importance of the wars in Syria and Iraq, and also announced willingness to “defend the oppressed Muslims of Nigeria.”
Iranian media reported that the head of Iranian-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces left the front lines of Fallujah yesterday to brief a senior cleric in Najaf, who praised the forces and stressed the protection of civilians.
The Iranian, who spoke in Farsi, belongs to the “Ansar al Hojja,” a militia that was formed in June 2014 and battles the Islamic State.
Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour’s presence in Fallujah alongside Qassem Soleimani underscores the importance of operations in Iraq to the IRGC’s leadership.