Quds unit
|
Qods unit |
|
|---|---|
|
|
| Lineup | 1980 |
| Country | Iran |
| Armed forces | Iranian Revolutionary Guard |
| Type | Special unit |
| Strength | 15,000 (estimate) |
| Location | Tehran |
| Butcher |
First Gulf War Lebanon War 1982 Bosnian War South Lebanon Conflict Battle of Herat (2001) Baluchistan Conflict Conflict with the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan Civil War in Syria since 2011 Uprising in Iraq (after US withdrawal) Fight against IS : Siege of Amerli Operation Ashura Fight for Baiji Battle for Tikrit |
| commander | |
| commander | Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani |
| Deputy commander | Brig. Gen. Ahmad Sabouri |
| Important commanders |
Qasem Soleimani (†) |
The Quds Unit or Qods Brigades ( Persian نیروی قدس, DMG Nīrū-ye Quds , also called Qods-Pasdaran or Sepahe-Qods ; the name is derived from the Arabic name for Jerusalem al-Quds ) is the elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (Pasdaran) for extra-territorial operations. It was set up in the early 1990s on the basis of existing forces to lead a global Islamic revolution (as part of the revolution export ). The unit's first commander was Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi , who previously headed the Pasdaran 's intelligence department . She was commanded by Qasem Soleimani . After his killing on January 3, 2020 by a US drone attack, Esmail Ghaani was named Soleimani's successor.
The Quds units work with other Islamist organizations such as Hezbollah or Hamas and are classified by the USA as a terrorist organization .
assignment
The Quds unit has the task of supporting forces close to Iran in order to lead an Islamic revolution extra-territorially (as part of the so-called revolution export ). In the past, the Quds unit supported Kurdish guerrillas in the war against Iraq, Islamist mujahideen during the Bosnian war and parts of the Afghan Northern Alliance in the clashes against the Taliban . Most recently, they were also active in the Syrian war against the opposition Free Syrian Army and IS .
The support is provided through financing, training and the provision of weapons and equipment. The cooperation is not limited to Shiite forces. The quds unit supports e.g. B. also pro-Iranian ( anti-Israeli ) forces within Hamas or the Sunni Palestinian Islamic Jihad . In addition, the Quds unit is used directly for special military and terrorist operations abroad.
Lineup
The unit was set up in the early 1980s. It was based on existing intelligence and other forces in Iran. The unit's first commander was Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi , who previously headed the Revolutionary Guard's intelligence department.
She reports directly to Ayatollah Ali Khamene'i . From March 1998 the command of the force was Major General Qasem Soleimani , who was killed on January 3, 2020 by a US missile attack near Baghdad airport . Esmail Ghaani was appointed as his successor .
The strength of the Quds unit is estimated at between 5,000-20,000 people.
Operations
The Quds unit has departments for Iraq , Lebanon , Palestinian Territories and Jordan , Afghanistan , Pakistan and India , Turkey , Arabian Peninsula, North Africa , Europe and North America . Members of the unit stay as diplomatic staff at Iranian missions abroad.
In Iraq
The Quds unit's operations in Iraq are designed to strengthen Iranian influence in the country and weaken the American presence.
According to the Arabic-language newspaper Asharq al-Awsat , published in London, al-Sadr visited Iran in late 2003 and met with General Soleimani, among others. The newspaper also reported that the Quds unit was running training camps for members of the Mahdi army in Qasr Shireen, Ilam and Hamid in southern Iran along the border with Iraq . After the failure of an offensive by the Mahdi army of Muqtada al-Sadr , the Quds unit stepped up its activities in Iraq.
This group is the military arm of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
The New York Times reported, citing intelligence sources, that the Quds unit had provided Shiite forces in Iraq with powerful explosive devices (shaped charges) that had killed around 170 American soldiers by February 2007. On January 20, 2007, a group of fighters attacked the Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala , kidnapped four American soldiers and then killed them. The attackers moved in vehicles similar to those used by American authorities in Iraq, wore American uniforms and spoke fluent English. The attack came a few days after a group of Iranian citizens were arrested by American forces in Erbil . According to American information, some of them were members of the Quds unit. Brigadier General Mohsen Shirazi and Colonel Abu Amad Davari, two high-ranking officers of the Quds unit, were arrested in Iraq in December .
At the beginning of 2020, Commander Qasem Soleimani was killed by targeted rocket fire from a Reaper drone of the US military in Baghdad.
In Lebanon
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps played a central role in the establishment of Hezbollah from 1982. According to Israeli sources, the Quds unit is responsible for Iranian arms deliveries to Hezbollah. The weapons would initially be transported from Iran by plane to Damascus and then imported overland to Lebanon. According to Israeli sources, the Quds unit trains members of Hezbollah in a facility called "Imam Ali" in Tehran and another facility in Bahonar near Karaj. In Lebanon captured fighters of the organization would have testified to have been trained in these facilities as part of groups of up to 50 fighters. The content of the training was, among other things, the handling of anti-tank weapons and the handling of anti-aircraft weapons.
In Syria
In 2013, The New Yorker reported on increasing Quds unit activity in Syria . The report also shows that the activities of the quds unit in Iraq were at times tolerated by the Americans in order to fight Sunni insurgents.
In France and Germany
In 2017, the Berlin Court of Appeal sentenced a student from Pakistan to a prison term of four years and three months for acting as an agent for the secret service. He had spied on the French-Israeli economics professor David Rouach and the former defense commissioner of the Bundestag and President of the German-Israeli Society Reinhold Robbe . The student is said to have operated on behalf of the Quds Brigades and scouted out targets that could easily be hit in the event of war.
Individual evidence
- ^ Qods (Jerusalem) Force Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC - Pasdaran-e Inqilab). Archived from the original on February 2, 2007 ; accessed on August 26, 2014 (English).
- ↑ Matthew M. Frick: IIran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps: An Open Source Analysis. (pdf) In: Joint Force Quarterliy issue 49. ndu press, 2008, p. 124 , accessed on September 3, 2014 (English).
- ↑ Retaliation after US attack - but how? , tagesschau.de, January 4, 2020.
- ↑ Fact Sheet: Designation of Iranian Entities and Individuals for Proliferation Activities and Support for Terrorism , October 25, 2007.
- ↑ US military kills Iranian top general , Spiegel Online, January 3, 2020.
- ^ The Gulf Military Forces in an Era of Asymmetric War - Iran. (pdf) Center for Strategic and International Studies Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Stragy, May 28, 2006, p. 21 , archived from the original on June 12, 2009 ; accessed on August 26, 2014 (English).
- ↑ Robin Wright: Elite Revolutionary Guard Broadens Its Influence in Iran . Washington Post, April 1, 2007.
- ↑ James Glanz: US Says Arms Link Iranians to Iraqi Shiites . New York Times, February 12, 2007.
- ↑ James Glanz, Mark Mazzetti : Iran May Have Trained Attackers That Killed 5 American Soldiers, US and Iraqis Say . New York Times, Jan. 30, 2007.
- ^ Robin Wright, Nancy Trejos: Iranians captured inside Iraq . Washington Post, Jan. 12, 2007.
- ↑ Michael Crowley, Falih Hassan and Eric Schmitt, "Top Iranian General Qassim Suleimani Is Killed on Trump's Orders, Officials Say," The New York Times, January 2, 2020
- ↑ Dexter Filkins: The Shadow Commander. Qassem Suleimani is the Iranian operative who has been reshaping the Middle East. Now he's directing Assad's was in Syria. In: The New Yorker. September 30, 2013, accessed August 26, 2014 .
- ↑ Georg Heil: Iranian secret service spied on SPD politicians. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, January 6, 2017. Retrieved October 3, 2017.
- ^ Espionage trial in Berlin: Iranian spy imprisoned for several years In: Der Tagesspiegel, March 27, 2017. Retrieved on October 3, 2017.
- ↑ Daniel Friedrich Sturm: SPD politician accuses Iran of murder conspiracy In: Welt Online, April 6, 2017. Retrieved on October 3, 2017.