There have been at least 43 attacks using rockets and/or mortars on U.S. positions in Iraq by Iranian-backed Shiite militias. These attacks shed light on Iranian and allied-Shiite militia intentions and strategy.
Iran continues its support for its proxy militias in Syria, as the Israeli military attempts to counter it.
Hezbollah operates closely in Iraq alongside Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to prop up and support Shia militias hostile to the U.S. and the West. Muhammad Kawtharani has played a key role in Hezbollah’s operations.
Additionally, the group’s leader, Qais al Khazali, and his brother, Laith al Khazali, have been listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Both Qais and Laith were in U.S. custody up until the withdrawal from Iraq in December 2011.
A spokesman of the group warns US troops in Iraq, while also threatening Israel in a speech that alludes to Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The group is likely a front for other Iranian proxies inside Iraq.
Recently, Hezbollah has suffered losses it has not seen in years of fighting in Syria.
On 14 February, Akram al-Kabi, the leader of the Iraqi Harakat al Nujaba (HAN) paramilitary group, warned during an address in Tehran that the “resistance” would “certainly” give a “military response” to the US over the deaths of commanders Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Kabi said the responses would be “corrosive and unexpected” with […]
Iranian-backed militias are taking part in the battle for northwestern Syria.
Over the last two weeks, the Saudi-led coalition and its allies have reported killing several members of Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps in Yemen.
Iranian-backed militia sites struck by what is thought to be Israeli warplanes Thursday morning.
Heavy losses by Hezbollah and Iranian-backed militias fighting in Syria.
The killing of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis last week reportedly claimed the lives of eight lesser-known colleagues as well. The death of these aides indicates that those who serve designated terrorists may suffer the same fate as their superiors.
The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed the attack was “launched from Iran” and that it “targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military & coalition personnel at Al-Assad & Irbil.” No casualties have been reported.
The rare joint statement both eulogizes Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al Muhandis and offers vague threats of retaliation in Bahrain.
Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani became “complacent” while traveling to and from Iraq, and did not believe the U.S. would target him, U.S. military officials told FDD’s Long War Journal. The military was able to reliably track his movements at times.
Abdul Reza Shahlai is one of Qods Forces’ most dangerous commanders.
Since 2015, the Houthi insurgency in Yemen has claimed dozens of attacks on ships in the Red Sea. FDD’s Long War Journal has mapped these strikes.
Two Iranian-backed groups in Bahrain have threatened to launch new attacks on the island if Bahrain goes through with the expected executions of two citizens accused of terrorism.
Both Iranian media and media linked to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces have reported different narratives surrounding the events of a purported explosion at an Iraqi base last week. However, Iranian media has confirmed at least one Iranian was killed at the base.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps shot down a MQ-4 Global Hawk as it was gathering intelligence over the Strait of Hormuz. It is the third US drone targeted by Iran and the second shot down since the beginning of the month.
The second-in-command of the IRGC-controlled, Iraqi Harakat al Nujaba has threatened to attack US targets in the Middle East if the US strikes “Iraqi groups.”
Should Iran have taken the decision to attack civilian vessels that carry oil, it could represent one way to do damage to global oil shipments without inviting massive retaliation. Such a move would be consistent with Iran’s highly graduated approach to escalation and desire to respond to the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed Hossein Salami as the new chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on April 21, replacing Mohammad Ali Jafari after 12 years in command. Salami previously served as deputy commander to Jafari for a decade.
The State Department announced today that it intends to designate the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. The IRGC’s activities span the globe.
A senior Iranian official has declared that the Islamic Republic’s foreign legion would fight in Iran if the system faces threat of overthrow.
The US Department of State added Harakat al Nujaba, an Iranian-supported Shiite militia which operates in both Iraq and Syria, and its leader, Akram ‘Abbas al Kaabi to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Kaabi has pledged loyalty to Iran’s Supreme Leader and has said he would overthrow the Iraqi government if ordered to do so.
Jaish al-Adl, a Sunni militant group based along Iran’s southeastern border with Pakistan, has claimed responsibility for a bombing that targeted an IRGC bus. The group has repeatedly targeted Iranian security forces.
The group directly threatens more attacks on the Bahraini government and its security forces, as well as declare the United States and the United Kingdom as legitimate targets on the island.
US Treasury on January 24 designated the Afghan Fatemiyoun Division and the Pakistani Zeynabiyoun Brigade, which are led by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), pursuant to counter-terrorism and human-rights-abuses designations. Criticizing the US, the Shiite-Islamist militias emphasized that they are part of the IRGC-led transnational militant network, pledged to keep fighting, but stopped short of directly threatening the US.
