Tag Archives: IRGC-QF

Israel targets IRGC officials, nuclear scientist, and missile bases in Iran (June 22–21 updates)

| June 22, 2025

Over the past 72 hours, Israel has intensified its air campaign across Iran, striking missile and drone infrastructure in Esfahan, Bushehr, Ahvaz, Yazd, and Qom. Targets included the Imam Hossein missile base in Yazd, IRGC drone and air defense facilities, and the Shahid Mostafa Khomeini military base. Senior IRGC and IRGC-Qods Force commanders tied to weapons transfers, regional proxy coordination, and nuclear development were killed. Despite Tehran’s calls for retaliation, Hezbollah, Hamas, and other allied militias have mostly stayed out of the fight so far.

Israeli airstrikes eliminate senior Iranian military officials

| June 17, 2025

Since the launch of Operation Rising Lion, the Israeli military has successfully eliminated key members of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s military leadership. Top leaders such as Mohammad Bagheri, Hossein Salami, and others are among the central figures in the regime’s military apparatus who were targeted in the opening hours of the conflict.

Iran named by Finland as foreign intelligence threat

| May 30, 2025

Finland officially named Iran as a state actively conducting espionage operations within its borders, a designation previously reserved only for Russia and China. The regime in Tehran has accelerated terror plots and intelligence operations across the US, Europe, and Israel.

Analysis: Iran braces for potential conflict as 5th round of US negotiations ends inconclusively

| May 23, 2025

Amid a stalled fifth round of negotiations in Rome, Iran has grown increasingly pessimistic about the prospects of reaching a deal with the United States. Tehran has responded to reported Israeli strike preparations with warnings of retaliation and appeals to the United Nations. Clashes with Israel in 2024 have left Iran militarily exposed, prompting Tehran to fear further escalation.

Iran’s Quds Force commander travels to Iraq ahead of Arab summit

| May 15, 2025

Esmail Qaani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, arrived in Iraq on May 14 and met with Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al Araji. Qaani discussed a security agreement in which Iraq has vowed to crack down on Iranian dissident groups within Iraq. In addition, Iraq’s prime minister and foreign minister said weapons in Iraq should be in the hands of the state.

IRGC missiles

Iran braces for possible US attack amid proxy setbacks

| April 8, 2025

Amid mounting proxy losses and a major US military buildup across the Middle East, Iran has placed its armed forces on high alert and warned neighboring states against facilitating a potential American strike. Tehran is suffering setbacks in Iraq and Yemen while ramping up deterrence through inflammatory propaganda.

Houthi missiles

Iranian personnel leave Yemen as US strikes intensify

| April 3, 2025

Iran has reportedly ordered its military personnel to leave Yemen amidst the growing US bombing campaign. The move reflects a broader pattern of the Islamic Republic recalibrating its regional strategy in response to the Trump administration’s moves to curtail Tehran’s influence in the Middle East and threats to potentially strike Iran’s nuclear sites.

Iran special forces

Iran’s ties to Western organized crime networks

| March 17, 2025

Tehran’s ambitions extend beyond backing Shia and Sunni Islamist groups in the Middle East. On March 13, the US Treasury Department sanctioned Sweden’s Foxtrot gang for its ties to the Iranian regime, underscoring Tehran’s longstanding practice of cultivating criminal networks across Europe and the Americas to assassinate dissidents and target American, European, and Israeli interests.

Falih al Fyyadh at Nasrallah's funeral

Pro-Iranian Iraqi militia leaders gather in Lebanon for Hezbollah leader’s funeral

| February 23, 2025

Falih al Fayyadh, the head of Iraq’s largely pro-Iranian Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), traveled to Beirut for the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on February 23. Other senior members of pro-Iranian militias in Iraq also attended the funeral, and several militia leaders put out statements. Hezbollah-affiliated media claimed approximately 200,000 Iraqis came to Lebanon for the event, though this number is unverified.

Islamic State map

Analysis: From Afghanistan to America: the rising reach of the Islamic State Khorasan Province

| February 17, 2025

Four years after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, the threat posed by the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) has expanded beyond the region, now endangering both America and Europe. With the group actively recruiting and transferring fighters across borders, regional actors such as the Taliban, Iran, Tajikistan, and Pakistan have proven unable to curb its growth.

Generation Jihad Ep. 144 — Battlefield innovation by Iran and proxy: “Expect more not less”

| February 23, 2024

Bill and Behnam discuss reports of Iran sending ballistic missiles to Russia and the potential for subsequent U.S. sanctions on Tehran (and why that’d be insufficient); why the head of the IRGC Quds Force allegedly paid a recent visit to Iraq; an update on the Houthi-Gulf of Aden-Bab al Mandeb-Red Sea theater, including a new underwater drone threat and why if we happen to see the Iranians “de-escalate” in one theater it’s because they’re preparing to escalate in another (and not because they’ve been “deterred”).

US and partner nations seek to disrupt Iran-Taliban nexus

| October 23, 2018

The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) designated nine individuals who are undermining the Afghan government. The nine include six Taliban leaders, two officials in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and a narcotics trafficker based in Pakistan.

US designates Qods Force counterfeit cash operation

| November 21, 2017

The US Treasury Department designated a counterfeit ring that has procured material and equipment to help finance the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) operations in Yemen. This announcement answers an important question about at least one of force’s method of financing its operations in Yemen. 

Qassem Soleimani: Islamic State was created to fight Iran

| October 10, 2016

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.