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Iraq’s prime minister establishes Popular Mobilization Forces as a permanent ‘independent military formation’
The Iraqi Prime Minister’s order will establish Iraq’s own IRGC, institutionalizing Tehran’s influence in the country. This development follows similar trends in Iran and Lebanon.
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Treasury designates 3 senior al Qaeda members in Iran
The US Treasury Department designated three al Qaeda terrorists today. All three of them are based inside Iran. One of them has served as al Qaeda’s “Military Commission Chief” and was identified in Osama bin Laden’s files as part of a “new generation” of leaders.
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Militants capture Iranian national in Fallujah
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]
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Qods Force general vows to fight in Iraq and Syria until the last jihadist is killed
A senior advisor to the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps – Qods Force vowed that Iranian forces would continue to fight in Iraq and Syria until the last Islamic State and “takfiri” fighters are killed. The statement signals the entrenchment of Iranian military assets in Iraq and Syria and the two countries continue to be mired in civil wars.
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Iran shuts down news site after reporting Taliban emir held talks with officials
The discussions reportedly centered around the Taliban’s commitment to preventing the Islamic State from expanding, “especially in Afghanistan’s northeastern border and the Afghanistan-Tajikistan border.” The Taliban and Iran have colluded since the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
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Abu Mehdi Muhandis meets with senior Iraqi Shiite cleric in Najaf
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.
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Abu Azrael sends message from Fallujah
Abu Ezrael, a famous commander in Iranian-backed Shiite militias who has burned an Islamic State fighter alive, taped a message addressing both the enemies and friends of Iran.
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Qods Force commander an official advisor to government, Iraq’s foreign minister says
Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jafari defended Qassem Soleimani’s role in bolstering sectarian militias that have often acted outside of the law in Iraq as they battle the Islamic State.
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Footage surfaces of Iranian IRGC fighter embedded with Iraqi forces near Fallujah
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.
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IRGC Ground Forces commander spotted in Fallujah
Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour’s presence in Fallujah alongside Qassem Soleimani underscores the importance of operations in Iraq to the IRGC’s leadership.
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Analysis: Iran has supported the Taliban’s insurgency since late 2001
Multiple reports say Taliban leader Mullah Mansour was killed earlier this month after he returned to Pakistani soil from Iran. While some have praised Iran for supposedly seeking stability inside Afghanistan, the Iranians have supported the Taliban’s insurgency since late 2001.
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Iranian-backed Iraqi militia launched rockets at Khan Touman in advance of ground assault
Ahead of an anticipated assault to recapture Khan Touman, Iranian media claim Iraqi militia Harakat al Nujaba has deployed its ground and missile units.
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Iranian-backed Iraqi militias signal readiness to enter Fallujah
Senior Iraqi Shia militia leader Abu Mahdi al Muhandis told a reporter that the second phase of the Fallujah operation was imminent. He criticized US airstrikes in Fallujah and announced his forces were prepared to enter the city if requested.
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Iranian Qods Force leader reportedly in Fallujah
The photo shows Soleimani’s and the militias dependent on Iran’s importance in the fight for Fallujah.
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Iraqi forces, militias launch operation to recapture Fallujah
Iranian-supported militias such as Hezbollah Brigades, Asaib al Haq, Harakat al Nujaba, Kata’ib Imam Ali, and Kata’ib Sayyid al Shuhada are taking part in the effort to wrest Fallujah from the Islamic State.
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Iran-backed militia prepares ‘special forces’ for Fallujah offensive
Harakat al Nujaba’s leader said that the Shia militia is operating in the Fallujah corridor and has prepared its forces to participate with the Anbar Brigade to retake Fallujah from the Islamic State.
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Sadr’s ‘Peace Brigades’ prepares for Mosul offensive
Muqtada al Sadr, the radical Shia cleric who battled US forces during the Iraqi occupation, is preparing his militia to participate in an offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State. The US military has insisted that Iranian-backed militias will not fight in Mosul.
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Storied Hezbollah commander killed in Syria
Mustafa Badreddine, Imad Mughniyah’s replacement and a notorious Hezbollah senior military commander, was killed in an attack on Damascus International Airport initially attributed to Israel.
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IRGC, allies sustained significant losses in battle for Khan Touman
On May 6, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps lost the strategic village of Khan Touman to Jaysh al Fath, suffering its worse defeat yet in the Syrian war. Iranian officials and commanders alongside state outlets have publicly downplayed the loss and have vowed revenge to retake the town. They also level accusations that the West and its regional allies support “terrorists” who take advantage of ceasefires.
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Syrian Army, allies retake Palmyra from the Islamic State
The Syrian Army claims to have retaken the city of Palmyra from the Islamic State. Bashar al Assad’s forces, backed by their Iranian and Russian allies, are battling Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s jihadists on several fronts. The Islamic State frequently claims “martyrdom operations” against Syrian regime fighters in Aleppo province, Deir Ezzor, and elsewhere.
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Iran Army hints at deployment of Special Forces to Syria and Iraq
The deployment would mark the first time that Army forces, including commandos and snipers of the Rapid Response Battalions, have operated outside Iranian borders since the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s.
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Iraqi militia leader wants to model PMF after Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
“We want to be a third power in Iraq,” the commander of Saraya Khorasani said. “Why can’t the Hashd [Popular Mobilization Force] be like the Revolutionary Guard in Iran?”
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‘Hezbollah and Harakat al Nujaba are the twins of resistance,’ Iraqi militia spokesman says
Harakat al Nujaba has a long history with Hezbollah and Iran, in both Iraq and Syria. “The blood of Hezbollah which flowed in the land of Iraq is our responsibility for so long as we exist,” the group’s spokesman said.
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Iraqi Shia militias show US-made equipment on road to Samarra
Iranian-backed Shia militias in Iraq continue to showcase both the ownership and usage of US-made vehicles and equipment.
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Ex-Guantanamo detainee allegedly led recruiting cell for the Islamic State
A former Guantanamo detainee named Hamed Abderrahaman Ahmed was arrested on Feb. 23 in Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, for allegedly running a jihadist recruiting cell for the Islamic State. Spanish authorities also claim that he and others were willing to carry out a terrorist attack on Spanish soil. According to a leaked Joint Task Force Guantanamo threat assessment, Ahmed traveled through Iran to Afghanistan to receive training in al Qaeda’s camps in 2001.
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IRGC Saberin Special Forces at work in Syria
Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps mourns commandos from the “Saberin” killed in Syria. The Saberin is a unit modeled after Western special forces.
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The IRGC’s involvement in the battle for Aleppo
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has invested significant resources to prop up Bashar al Assad’s regime. Qods Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, who oversees all of the Shiite militias active in Syria, is directing operations in the battle of Aleppo.
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Iranian-backed militia seen with US tank in Iraq
The photo offers more evidence of another Iranian-backed militia in Iraq owning and using a US-made M1 Abrams tank.
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US officials ‘strongly suspect’ Iranian-backed militia of kidnapping 3 Americans in Baghdad
The League of the Righteous, which has threatened Americans in Iraq and also carried out several kidnappings, is the prime suspect. The Shiite militia has denied any involvement in the abduction of the three Americans.
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Hezbollah responds to Israeli assassination of commander
Despite the exchange of threats between Israel and Hezbollah, the latest attack in the Shebaa Farms does not indicate a large-scale confrontation is on the horizon.
