Quds Force

{{IRGC}}

While the formation's official name is Quds Force ({{literal translation|Jerusalem Force}}), it has also been referred to as the 'Quds Corps' ({{langx|fa|سپاه قدس|sepah-e qods}}) in Persian media.{{cite book|title=Vanguard of the Imam: Religion, Politics, and Iran's Revolutionary Guards|page=263|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2016|first=Afshon|last=Ostovar|isbn=978-0199387892}} In Arabic, Jerusalem is most commonly known as {{lang|ar|القُدس}} {{translit|ar|al-Quds}}, meaning "The Holy" or "The Holy Sanctuary", cognate with {{langx|he|הקדש|translit=Ha-Qodesh|lit=The Holy}}.

It was originally titled Corps but changed to Force by Khamenei.{{Cite news |url=https://esfahanemrooz.ir/875881-%D8%AD%D9%82%DB%8C%D9%82%D8%AA-%D9%BE%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%B7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%86-%C2%AB%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%B1%D9%88%DB%8C-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3%C2%BB--%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%D9%82%D9%87%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%8C-%D8%B3%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-/-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%8C-%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D9%88-%D8%AC%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%B1%D8%A7.html |title=حقیقت‌پور از طراحان "نیروی قدس": ادامه قهر انتخاباتی مردم، سمی برای نظام است / خالص‌سازان، عقلای دو جناح را به نیروهای ساکت تبدیل کرده‌اند » اصفهان امروز آنلاین |newspaper=اصفهان امروز آنلاین |access-date=27 July 2023 |archive-date=27 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727125903/https://esfahanemrooz.ir/875881-%D8%AD%D9%82%DB%8C%D9%82%D8%AA-%D9%BE%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%B7%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%86-%C2%AB%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%B1%D9%88%DB%8C-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3%C2%BB--%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%D9%82%D9%87%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AA%D8%AE%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%8C-%D8%B3%D9%85%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA-/-%D8%AE%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%8C-%D8%B9%D9%82%D9%84%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AF%D9%88-%D8%AC%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%B1%D8%A7.html |url-status=live }}

The predecessor of the Quds Force, known as 'Department 900', was created during the Iran–Iraq War as a special intelligence unit, while the IRGC was allegedly active abroad in Afghanistan before the war. The department was later merged into 'Special External Operations Department'. After the Iran-Iraq War ended in 1988, the IRGC was reorganized and the Quds Force was established as an independent service branch.{{Cite book |last=Uskowi |first=Nader |title=Temperature Rising: Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Wars in the Middle East |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2018 |isbn=9781538121740 |page=42}} It has the mission of liberating "Muslim land", especially al-Quds, from which it takes its name—"Jerusalem Force" in English.{{Cite book |last=Matusitz |first=Jonathan |title=Symbolism in Terrorism: Motivation, Communication, and Behavior |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2014 |isbn=978-1442235793 |page=117 |chapter=Al-Quds: The Muslim Jerusalem}}

Both during and after the war, it provided support to the Kurds fighting Saddam Hussein. In 1982, a Quds unit was deployed to Lebanon, where it assisted in the genesis of Hezbollah.{{Cite book |last=Moghadam |first=Assaf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hiipAgAAQBAJ&q=quds+force+bosnia |title=Militancy and Political Violence in Shiism: Trends and Patterns |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1136663536 |page=87 |access-date=12 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013225515/https://books.google.com/books?id=hiipAgAAQBAJ&dq=quds+force+bosnia&hl=en&source=gbs_navlinks_s |archive-date=13 October 2017 |url-status=live}} The Force also expanded its operations into neighboring Afghanistan, including assistance for Abdul Ali Mazari's Shi'a Hezbe Wahdat in the 1980s against the government of Mohammad Najibullah. It then began funding and supporting Ahmad Shah Massoud's Northern Alliance against the Taliban.{{Cite news |date=4 October 2007 |title=Iran's Revolutionary Guards |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1565107/Iran%27s-Revolutionary-Guards-Quds-force.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421091616/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1565107/Iran's-Revolutionary-Guards-Quds-force.html |archive-date=21 April 2013 |access-date=1 March 2013 |work=Telegraph}} However, in recent years, the Quds Force is alleged to have been helping and guiding the Taliban insurgents against the NATO-backed Karzai administration. There were also reports of the unit lending support to Bosnian Muslims fighting the Bosnian Serbs during the Bosnian War.{{Cite book |last=Moghadam |first=Assaf |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hiipAgAAQBAJ&q=quds+force+bosnia |title=Militancy and Political Violence in Shiism: Trends and Patterns |date=2011 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1136663536 |page=87 |quote=It also assisted in the establishment of Hizballah in Lebanon and various Islamic groups in Bosnia. |access-date=12 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013225515/https://books.google.com/books?id=hiipAgAAQBAJ&dq=quds+force+bosnia&hl=en&source=gbs_navlinks_s |archive-date=13 October 2017 |url-status=live}}{{Cite book |last=Rubin |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ChaKAAAAMAAJ&q=quds+force+bosnia |title=Into the Shadows: Radical Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran |date=2001 |publisher=Washington Institute for Near East Policy |isbn=978-0944029459 |page=46 |access-date=12 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013225647/https://books.google.com/books?id=ChaKAAAAMAAJ&q=quds+force+bosnia&dq=quds+force+bosnia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjA6MrbpcfNAhXKI8AKHb72DT04ChDoAQhgMAk |archive-date=13 October 2017 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last1=Hirsh |first1=Michael |last2=Dehghanpisheh |first2=Babak |last3=Hosenball |first3=Mark |date=15 February 2007 |title=The New Enemy? |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17175607/site/newsweek/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401125205/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17175607/site/newsweek/ |archive-date=1 April 2007 |access-date=17 February 2007 |work=Newsweek}}

According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad helped fund the Quds Force while he was stationed at the Ramazan garrison near Iraq, during the late 1980s.{{Cite news |last=Nawar |first=Ibrahim |date=30 June 2005 |title=Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Justice versus freedom |url=http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/749/profile.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070112054829/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2005/749/profile.htm |archive-date=12 January 2007 |access-date=7 January 2006 |work=Al Ahram Weekly}}

In January 2010, according to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the mission of the Quds Force was expanded and the Force along with Hezbollah started a new campaign of attacks targeting not only the US and Israel but also other Western bodies.{{Cite report |url=http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus123.pdf |title=Hizballah and the Qods Force in Iran's shadow war with the West |last=Matthew |first=Levitt |date=January 2013 |publisher=The Washington Institute for Near East Policy |volume=123 |access-date=5 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923063634/https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/uploads/Documents/pubs/PolicyFocus123.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2018 |url-status=live |series=Policy Focus}}

In January 2020, Quds Force commander Major General Qasem Soleimani was killed by a US airstrike on his convoy outside Baghdad International Airport.{{Cite news |date=2 January 2020 |title=Iran's Gen. Soleimani killed in airstrike at Baghdad airport |url=https://apnews.com/5597ff0f046a67805cc233d5933a53ed |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103023408/https://apnews.com/5597ff0f046a67805cc233d5933a53ed |archive-date=3 January 2020 |access-date=3 January 2020 |work=AP News}}

The Quds force is run from Tehran, and has ties with armed groups in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories.{{Cite news |last=Austin |first=Henry |date=January 2020 |title=What is Iran's secretive Quds Force? |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/who-are-iran-s-secretive-quds-forces-n1110156 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607192943/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/who-are-iran-s-secretive-quds-forces-n1110156 |archive-date=7 June 2023 |access-date=27 July 2023 |work=NBC News}}

The LMU of the IRGC was established in 1981 by Mohammad Montazeri, son of Grand Ayatollah Hussein-Ali Montazeri, and Mehdi Hashemi, then a member of the IRGC Command Council and brother of Ayatollah Montazeri’s son-in-law.{{cite book|author=Ali Alfoneh|title=Iran Unveiled: How the Revolutionary Guards Is Transforming Iran from Theocracy into Military Dictatorship|location=Washington, DC|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8N7ATqedvAC&pg=PA213|year=2013|publisher=AEI Press|isbn=978-0-8447-7255-4|page=213}} This unit was tasked with providing military assistance to "Islamic liberation movements" abroad, especially in Shia-majority countries ruled by Sunni minorities, including Bahrain, Iraq and Lebanon. Both Montazeri and Hashemi had themselves received irregular warfare training in Palestine Liberation Organization-run training camps in Southern Lebanon before the 1979 Iranian Revolution.Roger Faligot and Remi Kauffer, Les Maitres Espions, (Paris: Robert Laffont, 1994) pp. 412–13

During the Iran-Iraq War, Major-General Mohsen Rezaee, then the Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Guards, ordered the formation of the 9th Badr Brigade, which consisted of Iraqi Shia fugitives who had fled from Saddam Hussein's persecution and were fighting for Iran. The Badr Brigade was manned by Iraqis but led by Iranian officers. Among the Badr Brigade's earliest Iraqi members were Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Deputy Chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces who was assassinated together with Soleimani in January 2020, and Brigadier-General Hadi al-Amiri, later Interior Minister of Iraq. Muhandis and Amiri took part in the 1986 Iranian Siege of Basra under the command of IRGC General Hassan Danaeifar. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Danaeifar became the Iranian ambassador in Iraq between 2006 and 2010. Muhandis had fled Iraq to Kuwait in the early 1980s and allegedly collaborated with Lebanese Hezbollah's Chief of Military Operations Imad Mughniyeh in bombing the US embassy in Kuwait in 1983, after which he fled to Iran.{{Cite web |last=Massoud |date=2020-08-20 |title=How the Quds Force of the Iranian regime was formed and grew |url=https://iranprobe.com/how-the-quds-force-of-the-iranian-regime-was-formed-and-grew/ |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=Iran Probe |language=en-US}}

In 1986 the Ramadan Headquarters of External Operations was created within the IRGC. This headquarters was responsible for Iran's links to Iraqi Kurdish groups, including the forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani. One of the Ramadan Headquarters' senior commanders and its chief of staff in the 1980s was the IRGC Brigadier-General Iraj Masjedi, who from 2017 to 2022 served as Iran’s ambassador to Iraq. At the time, another commander of the Ramadan Headquarters was the IRGC Brigadier-General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, who was later appointed as commander of the Basij militia.{{Cite news |last=Veisi |first=Morad |title=A Look At Three Decades Of Iran's Secretive Quds Force |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-quds-force-soleimani-explainer/30366930.html |access-date=2024-09-13 |work=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |language=en}}

The "Lebanon Corps" of the IRGC was established in June 1982 when Iran sent 1,500 Revolutionary Guard commandos to the Syrian-controlled Beqaa Valley of Eastern Lebanon to fight against Israel's invasion. This force was led by IRGC Brigadier-General Hossein Dehghan (later Defense Minister) and was tasked with training members of Hezbollah. Two other people who were influential in guiding and communicating with Hezbollah after Dehghan were IRGC Brigadier-General Ahmad Vahidi, the IRGC’s intelligence chief at the time and later the first commander of the Quds Force from its establishment in 1988 to 1998, and Fereydoun Vardinejad, later the Political Deputy of the Office of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. Both Vahidi and Vardinejad were tasked in 1985 by Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and the IRGC to negotiate with Robert McFarlane, U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s special envoy to Iran, on the issue of the Lebanon hostage crisis.{{Cite web |date=2020-07-02 |title=The Iranian Regime's IRGC Quds Force - 1980s- Present |url=https://www.ifmat.org/07/02/the-iranian-regimes-irgc-quds-force-1980s-present/ |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=IFMAT |language=en-US}}

File:Quds Force Operations.png{{Main|Timeline of Quds Corps}}

The force is described as "active in dozens of countries."{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Robin |title=Dreams and Shadows: the Future of the Middle East |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2008 |pages=332–333 |isbn=978-1-59420-111-0 |location=New York}} According to former U.S. Army intelligence officer David Dionisi, the Quds Force is organized into eight different directorates based on geographic location:{{sfn|Dionisi|2006|p=8}}

• Western countries (excluding Turkey, including the former Eastern Bloc)
• Former Soviet Union
• Iraq
• Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India
• Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan
• Turkey
• North Africa
• Arabian Peninsula

According to journalist Dexter Filkins, the force's members are "divided between combatants and those who train and oversee foreign assets," and the force is divided into branches focusing on "intelligence, finance, foreign languages, politics, sabotage, and special operations." Members are chosen both for their skill and "allegiance to the doctrine of the Islamic Revolution."{{cite magazine |last=Filkins |first=Dexter |url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/09/30/130930fa_fact_filkins?currentPage=1 |title=The Shadow Commander |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140628113000/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/09/30/130930fa_fact_filkins?currentPage=1 |archive-date=28 June 2014 |magazine=The New Yorker |date=30 September 2013}}

In addition, Dionisi asserts in his book American Hiroshima that the Iranian Quds Force headquarters for operations in Iraq was moved in 2004 to the Iran-Iraq border in order to better supervise activities in Iraq.{{sfn|Dionisi|2006|p=8}} The Quds Force also operates a base in the former compound of the U.S. Embassy, which was overrun in 1979.

According to Filkins and American General Stanley A. McChrystal, it was the Quds Force that "flooded" Iraq with "explosively formed projectiles" which fire a molten copper slug able to penetrate armor, and which accounted for "nearly 20%" of American combat deaths in Iraq (i.e. hundreds of soldiers). In September 2007, a few years after the publication of American Hiroshima: The Reasons Why and a Call to Strengthen America's Democracy in July 2006, General David Petraeus reported to Congress that the Quds Force had left Iraq. Petraeus said, "The Quds Force itself, we believe, by and large, those individuals have been pulled out of the country, as have the Lebanese Hezbollah trainers that were being used to augment that activity."{{cite web|url=http://www.alternet.org/story/62937/|title=Pentagon, State Department Debunk Bush Fabrications on Iran|work=Alternet|date=18 September 2007|access-date=1 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324100734/http://www.alternet.org/story/62937/|archive-date=24 March 2012|url-status=live}}

On 7 July 2008, journalist Seymour Hersh wrote an article in The New Yorker revealing that President Bush had signed a Presidential Finding authorizing the CIA and Joint Special Operations Command to conduct cross-border paramilitary operations from Iraq and Afghanistan into Iran. These operations would be against the Quds Force and "high-value targets."{{cite magazine|last=Hersh|first=Seymour|date=7 July 2008|title=Preparing the Battlefield: The Bush Administration steps up its secret moves against Iran|magazine=The New Yorker|url=https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh?currentPage=all|access-date=20 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090617211709/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh?currentPage=all|archive-date=17 June 2009|url-status=live}} "The Finding was focused on undermining Iran's nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change," a person familiar with its contents said, and involved "working with opposition groups."

According to an Iraqi intelligence study which discusses the foundation of the Quds Force after the end of the Iran-Iraq War and Khomeini’s death, the IRGC-QF has four main command centers to direct its intelligence and operational activities in neighboring countries in order to achieve its goals in these countries:

• Ramadan Headquarters (1st Corps) is responsible for Iraq, led formerly by Brigadier-Generals Hassan Danaeifar and Iraj Masjedi,
• Nabi Al-Akram Command Center (2nd Corps) is dedicated to Pakistan,
• Al-Hamzah Command Center (3rd Corps) is focused on Turkey and the Kurdish issue,
• Al-Ansar Command Center (4th Corps) is intended for Afghanistan and Central Asia, led formerly by General Hossein Musavi and Colonel Hasan Mortezavi.{{Cite web| title=Complaint for violation of the anti-terrorism act | url=https://terrorismcase.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Davis-v.-MTN-Irancell-Complaint.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208173610/https://terrorismcase.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Davis-v.-MTN-Irancell-Complaint.pdf | archive-date=2022-12-08}}

Besides these main command centers, the document indicates that there are also six corps for each country or area in which they operate:

• Fifth Corps, Turkish territory,
• Sixth Corps, Persian Gulf countries and Arabian Peninsula, led in the 1990s by Brigadier-General Ahmad Sherifi, who allegedly orchestrated the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing of a U.S. Air Force base in Saudi Arabia,{{Cite news |last1=Borger |first1=Julian |last2=Gillan |first2=Audrey |date=2001-06-22 |title=Iranians 'plotted' US bomb attack |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jun/22/usa.saudiarabia |access-date=2024-09-13 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} and more recently led by Brigadier-General Abdolreza Shahlaei, responsible for the provision of arms and training to the Yemeni Houthi movement,{{Cite web |title=Report reveals methods and ways of smuggling Iranian weapons to the Houthi militias and their path of expansion in the Horn of Africa |url=https://yemenshabab.net/en/sections/NEWS/Political/c26aab6f-6898-11ef-977c-222c43b9907f |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=يمن شباب نت |language=ar}}{{Cite news |title=Why Yemen's Houthis are attacking ships in the Red Sea |url=https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/12/04/why-yemens-houthis-are-attacking-ships-in-the-red-sea |access-date=2024-09-13 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}
• Seventh Corps, also known as Lebanon Corps, responsible for Lebanon and Syria, including managing Iran's ties to Hezbollah, led formerly by Brigadier-Generals Hossein Dehghan, Mohammad Hejazi and Mohammad Reza Zahedi,
• The Palestine Division, led by Brigadier-General Saeed Izadi, responsible for Iran's assistance to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad,
• The Abu Jihad Foreign Operations Unit (named after Khalil al-Wazir), which is jointly led by Palestinian militants and Iranian intelligence operatives, overseeing the smuggling and production of improvised explosive devices and construction of tunnel warfare networks within the West Bank and Gaza Strip,{{Cite web |title=Abu Jihad's Foreign Operations Unit {{!}} Terror Control |url=https://stop910.com/en/galleryAbuJihad.html |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=stop910.com}}
• Eighth Corps, Bosnia and Herzegovina, led in the 1990s by Brigadier-Generals Hossein Allahkaram and Mohammad Reza Naqdi,{{Citation|first1=Ali|last1=Alfoneh|title=Iran Unveiled: How the Revolutionary Guards Is Transforming Iran from Theocracy into Military Dictatorship|publisher=American Enterprise Institute|year=2013|page=230|isbn=9780844772554}}
• Ninth Corps, Europe, America and East Asian countries,
• Tenth Corps, Africa, led in the 1990s by Brigadier-General Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr.{{Cite web |title=Top Iranian Defector On Iran's Collaboration with Iraq, North Korea, Al-Qa'ida, and Hizbullah |url=https://www.memri.org/reports/top-iranian-defector-irans-collaboration-iraq-north-korea-al-qaida-and-hizbullah |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=MEMRI |language=en}}{{Cite web | url=https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=gpis_etds | title=Assessing the Role of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' Extraterritorial Activities in Attaining Iran's Foreign Policy Goals | date=Summer 2016 | author=Hamza Demirel | website=digitalcommons.odu.edu}}

The size of the Quds Force is classified and unknown. In 2007, Mahan Abedin of Center for the Study of Terrorism said that Quds Force numbers no more than 2,000 people, with 800 core operatives.{{cite news |last1=Daragahi |first1=Borzou |last2=Spiegel |first2=Peter |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-quds15feb15,1,7977308.story?coll=la-headlines-world |title=Iran's elite and mysterious fighters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727125850/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-feb-15-fg-quds15-story.html |archive-date=27 July 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=15 February 2007 |access-date=15 February 2007}}{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/experts-irans-quds-force-deeply-enmeshed-in-iraq |title=Experts: Iran's Quds Force Deeply Enmeshed in Iraq |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014070859/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,252212,00.html |archive-date=14 October 2008 |work=Fox News |date=15 February 2007 |url-status=live |access-date=15 February 2007}} Scott Shane, who interviewed several American scholars later that year, wrote that estimates range from 3,000 to 50,000.{{cite news |last=Shane |first=Scott |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/17/world/middleeast/17quds.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |title=Iranian Force, Focus of U.S., Still a Mystery |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701091213/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/17/world/middleeast/17quds.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |archive-date=1 July 2017 |work=New York Times |date=17 February 2007 |access-date=17 February 2007}} In 2013, Dexter Filkins wrote that the Quds Force has 10,000–20,000 members, "divided between combatants and those who train and oversee foreign assets". The 2020 edition of The Military Balance, published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), estimated that the force has about 5,000 personnel.{{cite journal|journal=The Military Balance |year=2020|publisher=Routledge|title=Chapter Seven: Middle East and North Africa|volume=120|number=1|isbn=9780367466398|doi=10.1080/04597222.2020.1707968|pages=348–352|s2cid=219624897|issn=0459-7222}}

In 2020, Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute estimated the Quds Force had the "divisional strength military formation" of approximately 17,000 to 21,000 members, split regionally.

Companies controlled by the Quds Force maintain banking relationships with the Bank of Kunlun, a subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-sanctions-china-exclusive-idUSKCN0J20CE20141119|title=Iran uses China bank to transfer funds to Quds-linked companies|last=Charbonneau|first=Louis|date=2014-11-19|access-date=2020-01-06|work=Reuters|language=en|archive-date=24 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200324095314/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-sanctions-china-exclusive-idUSKCN0J20CE20141119|url-status=live}}

The Quds Force has been involved in lucrative drug smuggling operations between Afghanistan and Iran, leveraging connections with South American drug cartels.{{cite book |last=Seliktar|first=Ofira|date= |title=Iran, Revolution, and Proxy Wars (Middle East Today)|url= |location= |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan; 1st ed. 2020 edition (19 December 2019)|page=120|isbn= |access-date=}}

The Quds force Corps budget was leaked in a hack in February 2024 to be $7,700 billion toman.{{cite web | url=https://www.radiozamaneh.com/803619/ | title=از هک شدن سامانه‌های مجلس شورای اسلامی ایران چه می‌دانیم؟ | date=14 February 2024 }}

While it reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, there are debates over how independently Quds Force operates.

Mahan Abedin, director of research at the London-based Center for the Study of Terrorism (and editor of Islamism Digest), believes the unit is not independent: "Quds Force, although it's a highly specialized department, it is subject to strict, iron-clad military discipline. It's completely controlled by the military hierarchy of the IRGC, and the IRGC is very tightly controlled by the highest levels of the administration in Iran."{{cite web|url=http://www.rferl.org/features/features_Article.aspx?m=02&y=2007&id=36B123CE-693B-448E-BF7D-A541E2A7BD12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416114504/http://www.rferl.org/features/features_Article.aspx?m=02&y=2007&id=36B123CE-693B-448E-BF7D-A541E2A7BD12|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 April 2008|title=Iran: Expert Discusses Iran's Quds Force And U.S. Charges Concerning Iraq|work=Radio Free Europe|author=Golnaz Esfandiari|date=16 February 2007|access-date=17 October 2007}}

According to a Los Angeles Times report, in Abedin's view, "[I]t's a very capable force—their people are extremely talented, [and] they tend to be the best people in the IRGC".

{{see also|List of wars and battles involving the Quds Force}}

The Quds Force trains and equips foreign Islamic revolutionary groups around the Middle East. The paramilitary instruction provided by the Quds Force typically occurs in Iran or Sudan. Foreign recruits are transported from their home countries to Iran to receive training. The Quds Force sometimes plays a more direct role in the military operations of the forces it trains, including pre-attack planning and other operation-specific military advice.{{sfn|Dionisi|2006|p=8}}

Since 1979, Iran had supported the Shi'a Hezbe Wahdat forces against the Afghan government of Mohammad Najibullah. When Najibullah stepped down as President in 1992, Iran continued supporting Hezbe Wahdat against other Afghan militia groups. When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 1996, Hezbe Wahdat had lost its founder and main leader, Abdul Ali Mazari, so the group joined Ahmad Shah Massoud's Northern Alliance. Iran began supporting the Northern Alliance against the Taliban, who were backed by Pakistan and the Arab world.{{cite news|title=Operations Anaconda entering second week |date=8 March 2002 |work=CNN |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/03/08/ret.war.facts/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071107053501/http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/03/08/ret.war.facts/index.html |archive-date=7 November 2007 }} In 1999, after several Iranian diplomats were killed by the Taliban in Mazar-e Sharif, Iran nearly got into a war with the Taliban.{{cite magazine |last=Karon |first=Tony |url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,175372,00.html |title=TIME.com Primer: The Taliban and Afghanistan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913022432/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,175372,00.html |archive-date=13 September 2006 |magazine=Time |date=18 September 2001 |access-date=16 October 2006}}{{cite news |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/68489 |title=The Elusive Quds Force: The Iranian Special Ops unit accused of meddling in Iraq has a fierce history and powerful friends |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080113121610/http://www.newsweek.com/id/68489 |archive-date=13 January 2008 |work=Newsweek |date=26 February 2007 |access-date=14 March 2007}} The Quds Force reportedly fought alongside the United States and the Northern Alliance in the Battle for Herat. However, in recent years Iran is accused of helping and training the Taliban insurgents against the NATO-backed Karzai administration.{{cite news |title=Taliban opens office in Iran |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9444402/Taliban-opens-office-in-Iran.html |newspaper=The Telegraph |first=Ben |last=Farmer |date=1 August 2012 |access-date=18 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170404010457/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/9444402/Taliban-opens-office-in-Iran.html |archive-date=4 April 2017 |url-status=live }}{{cite news|title=Iran, Pakistan out to weaken Afghanistan, MPs told|url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/05/20/iran-pakistan-out-weaken-afghanistan-mps-told|publisher=Pajhwok Afghan News|first=Abasin |last=Zaheer |date=20 May 2012|access-date=18 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503230401/https://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/05/20/iran-pakistan-out-weaken-afghanistan-mps-told|archive-date=3 May 2019|url-status=live}} Iranian-made weapons, including powerful explosive devices are often found inside Afghanistan.{{cite news|title=Taliban fighters training in Iran, U.S. officials say|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/23/iran.taliban/index.html|work=CNN|first1=Brian |last1=Todd |first2=Pam |last2=Benson|date=23 March 2010|access-date=18 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141010141902/http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/23/iran.taliban/index.html|archive-date=10 October 2014|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1075937.html|title=Afghanistan: U.S. Says Iranian-Made Weapons Found|work=Radio Free Europe|first=Breffni|last=O'Rourke|date=18 April 2007|access-date=18 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811042251/http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1075937.html|archive-date=11 August 2013|url-status=live}}{{cite news |url=http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-06/world/afghanistan.iran.weapons_1_iranian-weapons-afghanistan-sunni-taliban?_s=PM:WORLD |title=Afghans find tons of explosive devices transferred from Iran |work=CNN |date=6 October 2010 |access-date=18 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305015156/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-10-06/world/afghanistan.iran.weapons_1_iranian-weapons-afghanistan-sunni-taliban?_s=PM%3AWORLD |archive-date=5 March 2012 }}{{cite journal|url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35708|title=Is Iran Supporting the Insurgency in Afghanistan?|journal=Terrorism Monitor |volume=7 |issue=33|publisher=The Jamestown Foundation|access-date=19 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721071039/http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35708|archive-date=21 July 2015}}

{{blockquote|We did interdict a shipment, without question the Revolutionary Guard's core Quds Force, through a known Taliban facilitator. Three of the individuals were killed... Iranians certainly view as making life more difficult for us if Afghanistan is unstable. We don't have that kind of relationship with the Iranians. That's why I am particularly troubled by the interception of weapons coming from Iran. But we know that it's more than weapons; it's money; it's also according to some reports, training at Iranian camps as well.{{cite web|url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/03/16/concern-us-over-increasing-iranian-activity-afghanistan|title=Concern in US over increasing Iranian activity in Afghanistan|first=Lalit K|last=Jha|work=Pajhwok Afghan News|date=16 March 2011|access-date=18 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510145642/http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2011/03/16/concern-us-over-increasing-iranian-activity-afghanistan|archive-date=10 May 2013|url-status=live}}|General David Petraeus}}

In March 2012, Najibullah Kabuli, leader of the National Participation Front (NPF) of Afghanistan, accused three senior leaders of Iran's Revolutionary Guards of plotting to assassinate him.{{cite news|url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/03/04/iran%E2%80%99s-revolutionary-guards-plotting-kill-me-kabuli |title=Iran's Revolutionary Guards plotting to kill me: Kabuli |author=Khwaja Baser Ahmad |work=Pajhwok Afghan News |date=4 March 2012 |access-date=18 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202235621/http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/03/04/iran%E2%80%99s-revolutionary-guards-plotting-kill-me-kabuli |archive-date=2 December 2013 }} Some members of the Afghan Parliament accuses Iran of setting up Taliban bases in several Iranian cities, and that "Iran is directly involved in fanning ethnic, linguistic and sectarian tensions in Afghanistan."{{cite news|url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/03/27/afghan-mps-fault-ahmadinejad%E2%80%99s-remarks|title=Afghan MPs fault Ahmadinejad's remarks|work=Pahjwok Afghan News|author=Abasin Zaheer|date=27 March 2012|access-date=18 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203014016/http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/03/27/afghan-mps-fault-ahmadinejad%E2%80%99s-remarks|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=live}} There are reports about Iran's Revolutionary Guards training Afghans inside Iran to carry out terrorist attacks in Afghanistan.{{cite news|url=http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/05/07/alleged-spies-say-iran%E2%80%99s-revolutionary-guards-trained-them |title=Alleged spies say Iran's Revolutionary Guards trained them |work=Pahjwok Afghan News |author=Khwaja Basir Ahmad |date=7 May 2012 |access-date=18 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203002447/http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/05/07/alleged-spies-say-iran%E2%80%99s-revolutionary-guards-trained-them |archive-date=3 December 2013 }}

{{blockquote|Currently, the Revolutionary Guards recruit young people for terrorist activities in Afghanistan and try to revive the Hezb-i-Islami Afghanistan led by Gulbadin Hekmatyar and Taliban groups|Syed Kamal, a self-confessed agent for Iran's Revolutionary Guards and member of Sipah-i-Mohmmad}}

Following an attack on an Israeli diplomat in India in February 2012, Delhi Police at the time contended that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps had some involvement.{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Cops-name-Iran-military-arm-for-attack-on-Israeli-diplomat/articleshow/15263013.cms |title=Cops name Iran military arm for attack on Israeli diplomat |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801070444/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Cops-name-Iran-military-arm-for-attack-on-Israeli-diplomat/articleshow/15263013.cms |archive-date=1 August 2012 |work=Times of India |date=30 July 2012 |first=Neeraj |last=Chauhan}} This was subsequently confirmed in July 2012, after a report by the Delhi Police found evidence that members of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps had been involved in the 13 February bomb attack in the capital.

On 11 October 2011, the Obama Administration revealed the United States Government's allegations that the Quds Force was involved with the plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States Adel al-Jubeir, which also entailed plans to bomb the Israeli and Saudi embassies located in Washington, D.C.{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-ag-1339.html|title=Two Men Charged in Alleged Plot to Assassinate Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States|work=Department of Justice|access-date=19 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904194210/http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/October/11-ag-1339.html|archive-date=4 September 2014|url-status=live|date=11 October 2011}}{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150522043029/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/plot-to-kill-saudi-ambassador-casts-light-on-shadowy-group-that-reports-to-irans-leader/2011/10/13/gIQAthsmhL_story.html |archive-date=2015-05-22 |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/plot-to-kill-saudi-ambassador-casts-light-on-shadowy-group-that-reports-to-irans-leader/2011/10/13/gIQAthsmhL_story.html |title=Plot to kill Saudi ambassador casts light on shadowy group that reports to Iran's leader |agency=The Associated Press |date=13 October 2011 |newspaper=Washington Post}}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/us/obama-calls-for-iran-sanctions-following-alleged-plot.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast |title=Obama Says Facts Support Accusation of Iranian Plot |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701085356/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/us/obama-calls-for-iran-sanctions-following-alleged-plot.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast |archive-date=1 July 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=13 October 2011 |first=Helene |last=Cooper}}

In August 2022, plans to assassinate former US government officials John Bolton and Mike Pompeo were uncovered by US federal prosecutors, likely in retaliation for the January 2020 death of Soleimani.{{Cite news |first=Joseph |last=Haboush |work=Al Arabiya |url =https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2022/03/07/US-intelligence-uncovers-plot-by-Iran-s-Quds-Force-to-assassinate-John-Bolton-Report|title = US intelligence uncovers plot by Iran's Quds Force to assassinate John Bolton: Report|date = 7 March 2022|access-date = 27 July 2023|archive-date = 9 December 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221209032943/https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2022/03/07/US-intelligence-uncovers-plot-by-Iran-s-Quds-Force-to-assassinate-John-Bolton-Report|url-status = live}}{{Cite news |date=10 August 2022 |title=Mike Pompeo also a target in alleged Iranian assassination plot against John Bolton |url=https://news.yahoo.com/mike-pompeo-also-targeted-in-alleged-iranian-assassination-plot-against-john-bolton-194317862.html |work=Yahoo! News |first=Jana |last=Winter |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810195023/https://news.yahoo.com/mike-pompeo-also-targeted-in-alleged-iranian-assassination-plot-against-john-bolton-194317862.html |archive-date=2022-08-10}}

It has been reported that Iran has been increasing its presence in Latin America through Venezuela.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112hhrg72255/pdf/CHRG-112hhrg72255.pdf|title=Hezbollah in Latin America - Implications for U.S. Homeland Security|date=7 July 2011|website=U.S. House of Representatives, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence (112th)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920011139/https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-112hhrg72255/pdf/CHRG-112hhrg72255.pdf|archive-date=20 September 2018|url-status=live}} Little is known publicly what their objectives are in the region, but in 2009, Defense Secretary Robert Gates denounced Iran for meddling in "subversive activities" using Quds Forces. However, Iran claims it is merely "ensuring the survival of the regime" by propagating regional influence.

Juan Guaidó, President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, accused Nicolás Maduro in January 2020 of allowing Qasem Soleimani and his Quds Forces to incorporate their sanctioned banks and their companies in Venezuela. Guaidó also said that Soleimani "led a criminal and terrorist structure in Iran that for years caused pain to his people and destabilized the Middle East, just as Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis did with Hezbollah."{{Cite news|url=https://presidenciave.com/es/presidencia/ante-sucesos-en-el-medio-oriente-gobierno-interino-reitera-vinculos-de-maduro-con-terrorismo-internacional/|title=Ante sucesos en el Medio Oriente, Gobierno interino reitera vínculos de Maduro con terrorismo internacional|trans-title=Faced with events in the Middle East, the interim government reiterates Maduro's ties with international terrorism|date=3 January 2020|work=Centro de Comunicación Nacional|access-date=4 January 2020|language=es|archive-date=18 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218065205/https://presidenciave.com/es/presidencia/ante-sucesos-en-el-medio-oriente-gobierno-interino-reitera-vinculos-de-maduro-con-terrorismo-internacional/|url-status=dead}}

The Quds Force has been described as the Iranian "unit deployed to challenge the United States presence" in Iraq following the U.S. invasion of that country, which put "165,000 American troops along Iran's western border," adding to the American troops already in Iran's eastern neighbor Afghanistan.{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Robin |title=Dreams and Shadows: the Future of the Middle East |publisher=Penguin Press |year=2008 |pages=333–334}}

The force established Unit 3800 with the aid of Hezbollah{{Cite web |title=Hezbollah’s Regional Activities in Support of Iran’s Proxy Networks |url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/hezbollahs-regional-activities-support-irans-proxy-networks?utm_ |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=Middle East Institute |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Hezbollah in Iraq: A Little Help Can Go a Long Way {{!}} The Washington Institute |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/hezbollah-iraq-little-help-can-go-long-way |access-date=2025-05-21 |website=www.washingtoninstitute.org |language=en}} and "operated throughout Iraq, arming, aiding, and abetting Shiite militias"—i.e., the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Dawa, and the Mahdi Army—"all" of which "had close ties to Iran, some dating back decades" as part of their struggle against Saddam Hussein's oppressive Arab nationalist regime. The Quds Force trained the Shiite militias in the use of roadside bombs, known as IEDs, that were the largest cause of U.S. military deaths in Iraq.{{Cite news |title=Iran's Revolutionary Guard deployed in Yemen |date=15 January 2024 |url=https://www.semafor.com/article/01/15/2024/irans-revolutionary-guard-deployed-in-yemen |work=Semafor |first=Jay |last=Solomon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115200209/https://www.semafor.com/article/01/15/2024/irans-revolutionary-guard-deployed-in-yemen |archive-date=2024-01-15}}

In November 2006, with sectarian violence in Iraq increasing, U.S. General John Abizaid accused the Quds Force of supporting "Shi'a death squads", while the government of Iran was pledging support in stabilization.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gen-abizaid-on-stabilizing-iraq/ |title=Gen. Abizaid On Stabilizing Iraq |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061203011240/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/26/60minutes/main2208941.shtml |archive-date=3 December 2006 |department=60 Minutes |work=CBS |date=26 November 2006 |url-status=live |access-date=27 November 2006}} Similarly, in July 2007, Major General Kevin Bergner of the U.S. Army alleged that members of the Quds Force aided in the planning of a raid on U.S. forces in the Iraqi city of Karbala in January 2007.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/world/middleeast/03iraq.html |title=U.S. Says Iran Helped Iraqis Kill Five G.I.'s |first1=John F. |last1=Burns |first2=Michael R. |last2=Gordon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511160658/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/03/world/middleeast/03iraq.html |archive-date=11 May 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=3 July 2007}}

Former CIA officer Robert Baer asserts the Quds Force uses couriers for all sensitive communications.{{cite magazine |last=Baer |first=Robert |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1588810,00.html |title=Where's the Smoking Gun on Iran? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216004842/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0%2C8599%2C1588810%2C00.html |archive-date=16 February 2007 |magazine=Time |date=13 February 2007 |access-date=13 February 2007}}

On 24 December 2006, The New York Times reported that at least four Iranians had been captured by American troops in Iraq in the previous few days. According to the article, the U.S. government suspected that two of them were members of Quds Force, which would be some of the first physical proof of Quds Force activity in Iraq.{{cite news |last1=Glanz |first1=James |last2=Tavernise |first2=Sabrina |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/world/middleeast/25iraq.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1167195600&en=c7597c7769129006&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin |title=U.S. Is Holding Iranians Seized in Raids in Iraq |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701080214/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/world/middleeast/25iraq.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1167195600&en=c7597c7769129006&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin |archive-date=1 July 2017 |work=The New York Times |date=24 December 2006 |access-date=25 December 2006}} According to The Pentagon, the alleged Quds Force members were "involved in the transfer of IED technologies from Iran to Iraq."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/28/AR2006122800897.html|title=Group: Iranians Were Part of Elite Force|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=28 December 2006|access-date=1 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105085442/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/28/AR2006122800897.html|archive-date=5 November 2012|url-status=live|first=Slobodan |last=Lekic |agency=Associated Press}} The two men had entered Iraq legally, although they were not accredited diplomats. Iraqi officials believed that the evidence against the men was only circumstantial, but on 29 December, and under U.S. pressure, the Iraqi government ordered the men to leave Iraq. They were driven back to Iran that day.{{cite news |last1=Tavernise |first1=Sabrina |last2=Glanz |first2=James |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/30/world/middleeast/30iraq.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |title=U.S. and Iraq Dispute Role of Iranians but Free Them |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701075456/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/30/world/middleeast/30iraq.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |archive-date=1 July 2017 |work=New York Times |date=30 December 2006 |access-date=30 December 2006}} In mid-January 2007 it was reported that the two alleged Quds force officers seized by American forces were Brig. Gen. Mohsen Chizari and Col. Abu Amad Davari. According to The Washington Post. Chizari is the third highest officer of Quds Force, making him the allegedly highest-ranked Iranian to ever be held by the United States.{{cite news |last1=Wright |first1=Robin |last2=Trejos |first2=Nancy |url=http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070112/REPOSITORY/701120382/1013/48HOURS |title=Iranians captured inside Iraq |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070114063237/http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20070112%2FREPOSITORY%2F701120382%2F1013%2F48HOURS |archive-date=14 January 2007 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=12 January 2007 |access-date=13 January 2007 |via=Concord Monitor}}

The New York Sun reported that the documents described the Quds Force as not only cooperating with Shi'a death squads, but also with fighters related to al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sunna. It said that the Quds Force had studied the Iraq situation in a similar manner to the U.S. Iraq Study Group, and had concluded that they must increase efforts with Sunni and Shiite groups in order to counter the influence of Sunni states.{{cite news |last=Lake |first=Eli |url=http://www.nysun.com/article/46032 |title=Iran's Secret Plan For Mayhem |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070105151026/http://www.nysun.com/article/46032 |archive-date=5 January 2007 |work=The New York Sun |date=3 January 2007 |access-date=3 January 2007}}

{{Main|U.S. raid on the Iranian Liaison Office in Erbil}}

{{Further|U.S. kill or capture strategy in Iraq}}

On 11 January 2007, U.S. forces raided and detained five employees of the Iranian liaison office in Erbil, Iraq. The U.S. military said the five detainees were connected to the Quds Force.{{cite news |url=http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-01-14T120131Z_01_MAC638878_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAQ.xml&pageNumber=1&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage1 |title=Arrested Iranians tied to group arming Iraqis: U.S. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070331061726/http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews |archive-date=31 March 2007 |work=Reuters |date=14 January 2007}}{{cite news |url=http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2007-01-20T100553Z_01_L20541025_RTRUKOC_0_US-IRAN-USA-IRAQ.xml&WTmodLoc=IntNewsHome_C1_%5bFeed%5d-4 |title=Iran complains to U.N. over diplomats' arrest -TV |work=Reuters |date=20 January 2007}}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The operation drew protests from the regional Kurdish government while the Russian government called the detainments unacceptable.{{Cite news |work=Voice of America |url=http://voanews.com/english/archive/2007-01/2007-01-12-voa23.cfm?CFID=107068041&CFTOKEN=53544143 |title=Iraqi FM: Liaison Office Raided in Thursday's Operation in Irbil |access-date=3 April 2017 |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20070315170732/http://voanews.com/english/archive/2007-01/2007-01-12-voa23.cfm?CFID=107068041&CFTOKEN=53544143 |archive-date=15 March 2007 |url-status=dead }}

Alireza Nourizadeh, a political analyst at Voice of America, stated that their arrests were causing concern in Iranian intelligence because the five alleged officials were knowledgeable of a wide range of Quds Force and Iranian activities in Iraq.{{cite news |last=Zadeh |first=Ali Nouri |url=http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=7765 |title=US-Held Iranians Source of Major Concern for Tehran |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071008190036/http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=7765 |archive-date=8 October 2007 |work=Asharq Alawsat |date=23 January 2007 |access-date=24 January 2007}} According to American ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, one of the men in custody was Quds Force's director of operations.{{cite news |last=Hurst |first=Steven |url=https://www.theguardian.com/worldlatest/story/0,,-6369042,00.html |title=U.S. Envoy: Guard Quds Director Detained |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727130349/https://www.theguardian.com/world |archive-date=27 July 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=24 January 2007 |access-date=25 January 2007}}

Iranian and Iraqi officials maintained that the detained men were part of a diplomatic mission in the city of Erbil, Iraq.{{cite news|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/07/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-US-Iran-Prisoners.php |title=Kurdish leader: US sought to capture Iranian Revolutionary Guard officials in Irbil raid |work=International Herald Tribune |date=6 April 2007 |access-date=7 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070419151456/http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/04/07/africa/ME-GEN-Iraq-US-Iran-Prisoners.php |archive-date=19 April 2007 |agency=Associated Press}} The five Iranian detainees were still being held at a U.S. prison in Iraq as of 8 July 2007.{{Cite web|url=http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Iraq/214878|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016073937/http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Iraq/214878|url-status=dead|website=Al Bawaba |date=2007-07-08 |title=Iran complains about detention conditions of diplomats in U.S. custody|archivedate=16 October 2007}} The U.S. said they were "still being interrogated" and that it had "no plans to free them while they are seen as a security risk in Iraq."{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article1572776.ece|title=Kidnapping could be traced back to arrests by US forces|first=Richard |last=Beeston|work=The Times|date=27 March 2007|access-date=3 April 2007|location=London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401163052/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article1572776.ece|archive-date=1 April 2007|url-status=dead}} Iran said that the detainees were "kidnapped diplomats" and that they were "held as hostages."{{cite news|url=http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=467212|title=گزارش کامل از نخستین جلسه هفتگی سخنگوی وزارت خارجه در سال 86 |trans-title=Full report of the first weekly meeting of the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1986 |work=Mehr News|lang=fa|access-date=1 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208035229/http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=467212|archive-date=8 February 2012|url-status=live}}

On 9 July 2009, the five detainees were released from U.S. custody to Iraqi officials.{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/07/09/iraq.iranians.released/index.html|work=CNN|title=Iranians held in Iraq since 2007 released|date=9 July 2009|access-date=13 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117151716/http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/07/09/iraq.iranians.released/index.html|archive-date=17 November 2010|url-status=live}}

{{Main|Karbala provincial headquarters raid}}

On 20 January 2007, a group of gunmen attacked the Karbala Provincial Joint Coordination Center in Karbala, captured four American soldiers, and subsequently killed them. The attackers passed through an Iraqi checkpoint at around 5 pm, a total of five black GMC Suburbans, similar to those driven by U.S. security and diplomatic officials. They were also wearing American military uniforms and spoke fluent English. Because of the sophistication of the attack, some analysts have suggested that only a group like the Quds Force would be able to plan and carry out such an action.{{cite web |last=Schippert |first=Steve |url=http://analysis.threatswatch.org/2007/01/qods-force-karbala-and-the-lan/ |title=Quds Force, Karbala and the Language of War |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202014733/http://analysis.threatswatch.org/2007/01/qods-force-karbala-and-the-lan/ |archive-date=2 February 2007 |website=Threats Watch |date=29 January 2007 |access-date=30 January 2007}} Former CIA officer Robert Baer also suggested that the five Americans were killed by the Quds Force in revenge for the Americans holding five Iranians since the 11 January raid in Irbil.{{cite magazine |last=Baer |first=Bob |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1583523,00.html |title=Are the Iranians Out for Revenge? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202025028/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0%2C8599%2C1583523%2C00.html |archive-date=2 February 2007 |magazine=Time |date=30 January 2007 |access-date=30 January 2007}} It was reported that the U.S. military is investigating whether or not the attackers were trained by Iranian officials; however, no evidence besides the sophistication of the attack has yet been presented.{{cite news |first1=James |last1=Glanz |first2=Mark |last2=Mazzetti |author-link2=Mark Mazzetti |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/world/middleeast/31karbala.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin |title=Iran May Have Trained Attackers That Killed 5 American Soldiers, U.S. and Iraqis Say |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701090831/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/world/middleeast/31karbala.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin |archive-date=1 July 2017 |work=New York Times |date=30 January 2007 |access-date=31 January 2007}}

On 2 July 2007, the U.S. military said that information from captured Hezbollah fighter Ali Musa Daqduq established a link between the Quds Force and the Karbala raid. The U.S. military claims Daqduq worked as a liaison between Quds force operatives and the Shia group that carried out the raid. According to the United States, Daqduq said that the Shia group "could not have conducted this complex operation without the support and direction of the Quds force".{{cite news |title=US links Iran to attack in Iraq |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6260690.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070707054859/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6260690.stm |archive-date=7 July 2007 |work=BBC News |date=2 July 2007 |access-date=2 July 2007}}

In June 2007, U.S. General Ray Odierno asserted that Iranian support for these Shia militia increased as the United States itself implemented the 2007 "troop surge".{{cite news |last=Pessin |first=Al |url=http://voanews.com/english/2007-06-22-voa52.cfm |title=US Could Begin Withdrawal if Iraqis Can Take Over from Surge, says Commander |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070625050752/http://voanews.com/english/2007-06-22-voa52.cfm |archive-date=25 June 2007 |work=VOA |date=22 June 2007 |access-date=22 June 2007}} Two different studies have maintained that approximately half of all foreign insurgents entering Iraq come from Saudi Arabia.{{cite news|first=Henry |last=Schuster|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/03/08/schuster.column/index.html|title=The battle for Saudi hearts and minds|work=CNN|date=17 March 2005|access-date=1 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104093717/http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/03/08/schuster.column/index.html|archive-date=4 November 2012|url-status=live}}

In December 2009 evidence uncovered during an investigation by The Guardian newspaper and Guardian Films linked the Quds Force to the kidnappings of five Britons from a government ministry building in Baghdad in 2007. Four of the hostages, Jason Creswell, Jason Swindlehurst, Alec Maclachlan, and Alan McMenemy, were killed. Peter Moore was released on 30 December 2009. The investigation uncovered evidence that Moore, 37, a computer expert from Lincoln was targeted because he was installing a system for the Iraqi Government that would show how a vast amount of international aid was diverted to Iran's militia groups in Iraq. One of the alleged groups funded by the Quds force directly is the Righteous League, which emerged in 2006 and has stayed largely in the shadows as a proxy of the Quds Force. Shia cleric and leading figure of the Righteous League, Qais al-Khazali, was handed over by the U.S. military for release by the Iraqi government on 29 December 2009 as part of the deal that led to the release of Moore.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/30/iran-britons-baghdad-kidnapping|work=The Guardian|location=London|title=Revealed: Hand of Iran behind Britons' Baghdad Kidnapping|first=Guy|last=Grandjean|date=30 December 2009|access-date=22 May 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418164441/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/30/iran-britons-baghdad-kidnapping|archive-date=18 April 2010|url-status=live}}

In a 14 February 2007 news conference U.S. President George W. Bush reiterated his claim that the Quds Force was causing unrest in Iraq, stating:

I can say with certainty that the Quds force, a part of the Iranian government, has provided these sophisticated IEDs that have harmed our troops. And I'd like to repeat, I do not know whether or not the Quds Force was ordered from the top echelons of government. But my point is what's worse – them ordering it and it happening, or them not ordering it and it happening? And so we will continue to protect our troops. ... to say it [this claim] is provoking Iran is just a wrong way to characterize the Commander-in-Chief's decision to do what is necessary to protect our soldiers in harm's way. And I will continue to do so. ... Whether Ahmadinejad ordered the Quds force to do this, I don't think we know. But we do know that they're there, and I intend to do something about it. And I've asked our commanders to do something about it. And we're going to protect our troops. ... I don't think we know who picked up the phone and said to the Quds Force, go do this, but we know it's a vital part of the Iranian government. ...What matters is, is that we're responding. The idea that somehow we're manufacturing the idea that the Iranians are providing IEDs is preposterous. ... My job is to protect our troops. And when we find devices that are in that country that are hurting our troops, we're going to do something about it, pure and simple. ... does this mean you're trying to have a pretext for war? No. It means I'm trying to protect our troops.{{cite news|title=Press Conference by the President|publisher=Office of the Press Secretary|date=14 February 2007|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070214-2.html|access-date=10 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010081029/https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070214-2.html|archive-date=10 October 2017|url-status=live}} Retrieved 14 February 2007

Mohsen Sazegara, who was a high-ranking Tehran official before turning against the government, has argued that Ahmadinejad does not control the Guards outside of Iran. "Not only the foreign ministry of Iran; even the president does not know what the Revolutionary Guards does outside of Iran. They directly report to the leader", he said, referring to Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.{{cite web |agency=AFP |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5icL-zDq4U3AYTKtqSnVWxlFk1CUA |title=Iranian dissident warns of US actions against Iran |date=23 August 2007 |access-date=1 March 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120816060738/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5icL-zDq4U3AYTKtqSnVWxlFk1CUA |archive-date=16 August 2012 }} Although Ali Khamenei is the ultimate person in charge of the Quds Force, George Bush did not mention him.{{cite news |first=Brian |last=Ross |url=https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/BrianRoss/story?id=2876019&page=1 |title=Who's Behind Iran's Death Squad? |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218073152/https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/BrianRoss/story?id=2876019&page=1 |archive-date=18 February 2007 |work=ABC News |date=14 February 2007}} According to Richard Clarke, "Quds force reports directly to the Supreme Ayatollah, through the commander-in-chief of the revolutionary guards."

On 20 September 2007, the U.S. military arrested an Iranian during a raid on a hotel in Sulaimaniyah, a city in the Kurdish-controlled north. The military accused the Iranian of being a member of the elite Quds Force and smuggling powerful roadside bombs, including armor-piercing explosively formed penetrators, into Iraq. The military said intelligence reports asserted the suspect was involved in the infiltration and training of foreign fighters into Iraq as well.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/worldlatest/story/0,,-6937120,00.html|title=World News|work=the Guardian|access-date=27 July 2023|archive-date=27 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727130359/https://www.theguardian.com/world|url-status=dead}}{{Nonspecific | date=February 2025}}

On 22 September 2007, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani criticized the United States for arresting the Iranian and called for his immediate release. Talabani argued he is a civil servant who was on an official trade mission in the Kurdish Region and stated Iraqi and Kurdish regional government representatives were aware of the man's presence in the country. "I express to you our outrage for these American forces arresting this Iranian civil official visitor without informing or cooperating with the government of the Kurdistan region, which means insult and disregard for its rights", Talabani wrote in a "letter of resentment" to Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, and Gen. David Petraeus.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/22/talabani.letter/index.html|title=Iraqi president urges release of Iranian detainee|work=CNN|date=22 September 2007|access-date=1 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104093727/http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/09/22/talabani.letter/index.html|archive-date=4 November 2012|url-status=live}}

On 24 November 2007, US military officials accused an Iranian special group of placing a bomb in a bird box that blew up at a popular animal market in central Baghdad. "The group's purpose was to make it appear Al Qaeda in Iraq was responsible for the attack", Admiral Smith said. He further emphasized there was "no evidence Iran ordered the attack".{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/world/middleeast/25iraq.html |title=U.S. Starts First Major Pullout From Iraq, Beginning With Brigade Members |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701084742/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/world/middleeast/25iraq.html |archive-date=1 July 2017 |url-status=live |newspaper=The New York Times |date=25 November 2007 |last1=Rubin |first1=Alissa J. }} In May 2008, Iraq said it had no evidence that Iran was supporting militants on Iraqi soil.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=91705|title='No evidence' Iran backs militias – Baghdad|work=The Daily Star|date=5 May 2008|access-date=1 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101229230149/http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=91705|archive-date=29 December 2010|url-status=live}} Al-Sadr spokesman Al-Ubaydi said the presence of Iranian weapons in Iraq is "quite normal," since "they are bought and sold and any party can buy them."{{cite web|last=Ridolfo|first=Kathleen|url=http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/05/27FC11FF-9706-438D-9F39-5EFA0164FBDF.html|title=Iraq: Al-Sadr Refuses to Meet Baghdad Delegation In Iran|work=Radio Free Europe|date=4 May 2008|access-date=1 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611053751/http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/05/27fc11ff-9706-438d-9f39-5efa0164fbdf.html|archive-date=11 June 2008|url-status=live}}

According to reports produced by Agence France-Presse (AFP), The Jerusalem Post, and Al Arabiya, at the request of a member of the United States' House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, in 2011 Congressional counter-terrorism advisor Michael S. Smith II of Kronos Advisory, LLC produced a report on Iran's alleged ties to Al-Qaeda that was distributed to members of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus.{{cite news |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121206002108/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ghRPhpAicLLjQad84KP5hwCja97A?docId=CNG.c4e5aaec1a6b9ae498dbebf05c7cebdc.1121 |url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ghRPhpAicLLjQad84KP5hwCja97A?docId=CNG.c4e5aaec1a6b9ae498dbebf05c7cebdc.1121 |archive-date=2012-12-06 |title=Report highlights alleged Iran forces al-Qaeda links |agency=AFP |date=4 May 2011}}{{cite news |url=http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?ID=219255&R=R1 |title=US congressional report: Iran offering support to al-Qaida |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110506041405/http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?ID=219255&R=R1 |archive-date=6 May 2011 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=5 May 2011}}{{cite news |url=http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/05/147902.html |title=Report from Congressional panel says Iran's Revolutionary Guard helps Al-Qaeda |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110508155806/http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/05/05/147902.html |archive-date=8 May 2011 |work=Al Arabiya |date=5 May 2011}} Titled "The al-Qa'ida-Qods Force Nexus: Scratching the Surface of a Known Unknown", a redacted version of Smith's report is available online via the blog site owned by American military geostrategist and The Pentagon's New Map author Thomas P.M. Barnett.{{cite web|url=http://thomaspmbarnett.squarespace.com/storage/Kronos_AQ.QF.Nexus.globlogization.pdf|title=The al-Qa'ida-Qods Force Nexus|date=29 April 2011|access-date=1 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413024203/http://thomaspmbarnett.squarespace.com/storage/Kronos_AQ.QF.Nexus.globlogization.pdf|archive-date=13 April 2012|url-status=live}} The report's Issue Summary section explains: "This report focuses on the history of Iran's relationship with al-Qa'ida, and briefly addresses potential implications of these ties. Additionally, its author provides a list of recommended action items for Members of the United States Congress, as well as a list of questions that may help Members develop a better understanding of this issue through interactions with defense and intelligence officials".

A member of the Quds Force was alleged arrested with 21 other suspects in the attack on the Israeli and United States embassies on 14 March 2012 in Azerbaijan.

File:Battle of Tikrit (2015) (digitized).jpg, was involved with both the planning as well as the execution of the operation to expel ISIL from Tikrit.]]

In 2014, Quds Force was deployed into Iraq to lead Iranian action against ISIL. Iran sent three Quds Force battalions to help the Iraqi government repel ISIL's 2014 Northern Iraq offensive.{{cite news|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/iran-deploys-forces-to-fight-al-qaeda-inspired-militants-in-iraq-iranian-security-sources-1402592470|title=Iran Deploys Forces to Fight al Qaeda-Inspired Militants in Iraq|last=Fassihi|first=Farnaz|date=11 June 2014|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=12 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140613144946/http://online.wsj.com/articles/iran-deploys-forces-to-fight-al-qaeda-inspired-militants-in-iraq-iranian-security-sources-1402592470|archive-date=13 June 2014|url-status=live}} Over 40 officers participated in the Second Battle of Tikrit, including the commander of the force, Gen. Qasem Soleimani who took a leading role in the operation.

{{main|Assassination of Qasem Soleimani}}

On 3 January 2020, a drone strike approved by United States President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport killed General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force. He was replaced by General Esmail Qaani {{Cite news|title=A Look At Three Decades Of Iran's Secretive Quds Force|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-quds-force-soleimani-explainer/30366930.html|access-date=2021-11-09|website=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty|language=en|archive-date=2021-08-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827130118/https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-quds-force-soleimani-explainer/30366930.html|url-status=live |last1=Veisi |first1=Morad }}

In November 2021 the Commander of the corps went to Iraq for a visit.{{Cite news|date=2021-11-08|title=ورود غیرعلنی فرمانده سپاه قدس به بغداد چند ساعت پس از حمله به اقامتگاه الکاظمی|url=https://farsi.alarabiya.net/middle-east/2021/11/08/%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%BA%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%B3%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%BA%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-|access-date=2021-11-09|website=العربیه فارسی|language=fa|archive-date=2021-11-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108095613/https://farsi.alarabiya.net/middle-east/2021/11/08/%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AF-%D8%BA%DB%8C%D8%B1%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%86%DB%8C-%D9%81%D8%B1%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%B3%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%87-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%A8%D8%BA%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-|url-status=live}}

In Lebanon, Quads Force plays an important and ongoing role, mostly by supporting Hezbollah and other groups that are friendly to Iran. Its actions in Lebanon are part of a larger strategy that involves unconventional warfare, intelligence operations, and support for armed groups throughout the Middle East.{{Cite web|title=نیروی قدس سپاه چگونه تشکیل شد و در منطقه چه کرد؟- اخبار نظامی {{!}} دفاعی {{!}} امنیتی - اخبار سیاسی تسنیم {{!}} Tasnim|url=https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1400/02/13/2496067/%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%B1%D9%88%DB%8C-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3-%D8%B3%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%87-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%AA%D8%B4%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%84-%D8%B4%D8%AF-%D9%88-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D9%87-%DA%86%D9%87-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF|access-date=2021-11-09|website=خبرگزاری تسنیم {{!}} Tasnim|language=fa|archive-date=2021-10-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031104143/https://www.tasnimnews.com/fa/news/1400/02/13/2496067/%D9%86%DB%8C%D8%B1%D9%88%DB%8C-%D9%82%D8%AF%D8%B3-%D8%B3%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%87-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%AA%D8%B4%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%84-%D8%B4%D8%AF-%D9%88-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D9%87-%DA%86%D9%87-%DA%A9%D8%B1%D8%AF|url-status=live}}{{Cite news |last=Veisi |first=Morad |title=A Look At Three Decades Of Iran's Secretive Quds Force |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-quds-force-soleimani-explainer/30366930.html |access-date=2025-05-08 |work=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-05-15 |title=سلاح "حزب الله": من "حرب العصابات" إلى الجيوش المتكاملة - عباس هدلا |url=https://www.nidaalwatan.com/article/320087-%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AD-%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A5%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B4-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AA%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%84%D8%A9 |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=نداء الوطن |language=en}}

One of the main ways the Quds Force is involved in Lebanon is through its close partnership with Hezbollah. It provides Hezbollah with weapons, training, money, and strategic advice through Unit 190,{{Citation |title=Unit 190 |date=2025-05-03 |work=Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_190?utm_ |access-date=2025-05-08 |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Counter Terrorism Designation Update; Iran-related Designation Update {{!}} Office of Foreign Assets Control |url=https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20230815 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=ofac.treasury.gov |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2016-11-11 |title=Iran’s Unit 190: The special force smuggling weapons by land, sea and air |url=https://raseef22.net/english/article/1067968-irans-unit-190-special-force-smuggling-weapons-land-sea-air |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Raseef22 |language=en}} Unit 700,{{Cite web |date=2024-09-02 |title=UK sanctions secret IRGC Quds Force unit arming Iran's proxies |url=https://www.iranintl.com/en/202409023772?utm_ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=www.iranintl.com |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Research |first=Alma |date=2025-02-24 |title=Iran's Military Aid to Hezbollah's Rehabilitation - Involved Units |url=https://israel-alma.org/irans-military-aid-to-hezbollahs-rehabilitation-involved-units/?utm_ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Alma Research and Education Center |language=en-US}} and Unit 18000.{{Cite web |title=Institute for the Study of War |url=https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-april-12-2023 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Institute for the Study of War |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Aslani |first=Mostafa |date=2023-06-13 |title=Inside Iran Regime’s Covert Quds Force Unit 700 |url=https://irannewsupdate.com/news/middle-east/inside-iran-regimes-covert-quds-force-unit-700/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Iran News Update |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Senior Iranian Politician Glorifies Afghan Shiite Militiamen Fighting in Syria |url=https://www.mei.edu/publications/senior-iranian-politician-glorifies-afghan-shiite-militiamen-fighting-syria |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Middle East Institute |language=en}} This support has helped Hezbollah grow into a powerful military and political group in Lebanon, and a central part of Iran’s efforts to challenge Israel in the region. The Quds Force also provides training for fighters, both in Lebanon and Iran. They help build up military infrastructure, including weapons storage sites in southern Lebanon. These are sometimes located near civilian areas or UN facilities, which increases risks during conflicts.{{Cite web |last=Isaac |first=David |date=2025-01-17 |title=IDF destroys terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon |url=https://www.jns.org/idf-destroys-terrorist-infrastructure-in-lebanon/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=JNS.org |language=en-US}}

The Quds Force is also directly involved in planning attacks. For example, a man named Hassan Ali Mahmoud Badir—who worked with both Hezbollah and the Quds Force—was recently killed in Beirut. Reports say he was helping to coordinate attacks between Hamas and Hezbollah, targeting Israeli civilians. This shows how the Quds Force is actively involved in organizing operations, not just offering support from a distance.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-01 |title=Israel says Revolutionary Guard operative killed in Lebanon |url=https://www.iranintl.com/en/202504019037 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=www.iranintl.com |language=en}}

Esmail Qaani, the leader of the Quds Force, has visited Lebanon often, especially after the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.{{Cite web |title=Inside story: Quds Force chief in Lebanon, but Hezbollah ‘calling the shots’ |url=https://amwaj.media/en/article/axis-gaza-qaani |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Amwaj.media |language=en}} His visits are meant to strengthen cooperation between Iran, Hezbollah, and Palestinian groups. However, even with his involvement, Hezbollah still runs most operations in Lebanon on its own. Lebanon is just one part of the Quds Force’s broader mission. It also supports armed groups in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and the Palestinian territories. These efforts are part of Iran’s regional strategy to build influence and challenge rival powers, especially Israel and the United States.{{Cite news |last=Cornish |first=Chloe |date=2024-09-29 |title=Hassan Nasrallah and Bashar al-Assad: the Syrian war that changed Hizbollah |url=https://www.ft.com/content/76ba9c5c-3f6a-40a9-b782-7910f5584a05?utm_ |access-date=2025-05-08 |work=Financial Times}}{{Cite web |title=Beyond “Maximum Pressure” in US Policy on Iran: Leveraging Regional Partners to Contain Iran's Actions and Shape its Future Choices |url=https://mei.edu/publications/beyond-maximum-pressure-us-policy-iran-leveraging-regional-partners-contain-irans |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Middle East Institute |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Barnes-Dacey |first=Hamidreza Azizi, Julien |date=2024-06-05 |title=Beyond proxies: Iran’s deeper strategy in Syria and Lebanon |url=https://ecfr.eu/publication/beyond-proxies-irans-deeper-strategy-in-syria-and-lebanon/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=ECFR |language=en-GB}}

In recent months, Israel has carried out strikes to kill Quds Force members and their allies in Lebanon, saying these individuals were planning attacks on civilians. The killing of people like Hassan Badir highlights how directly involved the Quds Force is in planning military operations.{{Cite web |title=Institute for the Study of War |url=https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-april-1-2025?utm_ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Institute for the Study of War |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Atalayar |date=2025-04-01 |title=Israel attacks Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut for the second time since the ceasefire began |url=https://www.atalayar.com/en/articulo/politics/israel-attacks-hezbollah-stronghold-in-beirut-for-the-second-time-since-the-ceasefire-began/20250401124013212909.html?utm_ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Atalayar |language=en}} The presence of the Quds Force in Lebanon also contributes to regular flare-ups in violence between Hezbollah and Israel. Even when ceasefires are in place, the Quds Force’s actions often lead to violations and renewed clashes, making peace in the region more difficult to achieve.{{Cite web |last=Isaac |first=David |date=2025-01-17 |title=IDF destroys terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon |url=https://www.jns.org/idf-destroys-terrorist-infrastructure-in-lebanon/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=JNS.org |language=en-US}}

{{Further|Syrian civil war|Iranian involvement in the Syrian civil war}}

In 2011, the Quds Force deployed to Syria.{{Cite web|title=Iran's Revolutionary Guards|url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/irans-revolutionary-guards|access-date=2021-11-09|website=Council on Foreign Relations|language=en|archive-date=2021-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020120758/https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/irans-revolutionary-guards|url-status=live}} IRGC Commander Jafari announced on 16 September 2012 that Quds Force "were present" in Syria.{{cite news|last=Alfoneh|first=Ali|title=What Is Iran Doing in Syria?|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/09/21/what_is_iran_doing_in_syria|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925053921/http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/09/21/what_is_iran_doing_in_syria|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 September 2012|access-date=29 July 2013|work=Foreign Policy|date=21 September 2012}}

Coinciding with the Geneva II Conference on Syria in 2014, Iran boosted its presence in Syria with several "hundred" military specialists, including senior commanders from the Quds Force, according to Iranian sources and security experts. While recently retired senior IRGC commander told that there were at least 60 to 70 Quds force commanders on the ground in Syria at any given time.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/10654144/Iran-boosts-support-to-Syria.html Iran boosts support to Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408154504/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/10654144/Iran-boosts-support-to-Syria.html |date=8 April 2019 }}, Telegraph, 21 February 2014 The primary role of these forces is to gather intelligence and manage the logistics of the battle for the Syrian Government.[http://www.understandingwar.org/report/iranian-strategy-syria Iranian Strategy in Syria] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022001408/http://www.understandingwar.org/report/iranian-strategy-syria |date=22 October 2017 }}, Institute for the Study of War, Executive Summary + Full report, May 2013

In November 2015, the Quds Force conducted a successful rescue mission of a Russian bomber pilot who was shot down by a Turkish fighter jet.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In May 2018, Quds forces on the Syrian-held side of the Golan Heights allegedly fired around 20 projectiles towards Israeli army positions without causing damage or casualties.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/05/09/world/middleeast/09reuters-mideast-crisis-golan.html |title=Iranian Forces in Syria Shell Israeli Army Bases on Golan-Israel |newspaper=New York Times |date=9 May 2018 |access-date=21 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521114435/https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/05/09/world/middleeast/09reuters-mideast-crisis-golan.html |archive-date=21 May 2018 |url-status=live }} Israel responded with airstrikes against Iranian bases in Syria.{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/israel-targets-iranian-forces-in-syria-after-rocket-attack-on-golan-heights/ |title=Israel targets Iranian forces in Syria after rocket attack on Golan Heights |publisher=Fox News |date=10 May 2018 |access-date=21 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180829083751/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2018/05/09/iran-forces-launch-missiles-at-israel-from-syria-idf-says.html |archive-date=29 August 2018 |url-status=live }} At least twenty-three fighters, among them 18 foreigners, were reportedly killed in the strikes.{{cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/israel-launches-extensive-syria-strike-after-iranian-rocket-barrage-1.6073938 |title=Israel Launches Most Extensive Strike in Syria in Decades After Iranian Rocket Barrage |newspaper=Haaretz |date=11 May 2018 |access-date=21 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180520165112/https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/israel-launches-extensive-syria-strike-after-iranian-rocket-barrage-1.6073938 |archive-date=20 May 2018 |url-status=live }}

In January 2019, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed that it had carried out strikes against Iranian military targets in Syria several hours after a rocket was intercepted over the Golan Heights. The Israeli military claimed in a statement that Quds Force positions were targeted and included a warning to the Syrian military against "attempting to harm Israeli forces or territory."{{cite news |newspaper=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/20/world/middleeast/israel-attack-syria-iran.html |title=Israel Confirms Another Attack on Iranian Targets in Syria |date=20 January 2018 |access-date=21 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190122071034/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/20/world/middleeast/israel-attack-syria-iran.html |archive-date=22 January 2019 |url-status=live }}

In April 2021, prominent Syria-based Quds operative Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Fallahzadeh became Quds Deputy Commander.

In 2021, the African network was dismantled by the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad.{{Citation|title=کشف شبکه سپاه قدس در آفریقا و خنثی شدن عملیات ضد اسرائیلی آنها؛ گزارش شهلا آراسته|date=8 November 2021 |url=https://ir.voanews.com/a/iran-israel-africa-quds-mossad/6304610.html|language=fa|access-date=2021-11-09|archive-date=2021-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211109064526/https://ir.voanews.com/a/iran-israel-africa-quds-mossad/6304610.html|url-status=live}}

In January 2018, German authorities conducted raids in Baden-Württemberg, North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria and Berlin, searching homes and businesses belonging to ten alleged Iranian Quds Force members, suspected of spying on Israeli and Jewish targets.{{cite news |publisher=Deutsche Welle |url=http://www.dw.com/en/raids-across-germany-target-suspected-iranian-spies/a-42165145 |title=Raids across Germany target suspected Iranian spies |date=16 January 2018 |access-date=16 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180116182531/http://www.dw.com/en/raids-across-germany-target-suspected-iranian-spies/a-42165145 |archive-date=16 January 2018 |url-status=live }}

In 2014, deployed for advisor role as Ansar Allah in Yemeni Civil War.

{{Officeholder table start

| showorder = y

| showimage = y

| image_title = Portrait

| officeholder_title = Commander

| showtermlenght = y

| showparty = n

| showdefencebranch = n

| showref = y

}}

{{Officeholder table

| order = 1

| image = Ahmad Vahidi 1401 (cropped).jpeg

| military_rank = Brigadier general

| officeholder = Ahmad Vahidi

| officeholder_sort = Vahidi, Ahmad

| born_year = 1958

| died_year =

| term_start = 1988

| term_end = 1998

| timeinoffice = {{age in years|1988|1998}} years

| ref = –

}}

{{Officeholder table

| order = 2

| image = Qasem Soleimani with Zolfaghar Order.jpg

| military_rank = Major general

| officeholder = Qasem Soleimani

| officeholder_sort = Soleimani, Qasem

| born_year = 1957

| died_year = 2020

| died = y

| term_start = 21 March 1998

| term_end = 3 January 2020

| timeinoffice = {{ayd|1998|03|21|2020|01|03}}

| ref = {{cite journal|last=Alfoneh|first=Ali|date=January 2011|title=Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani: A Biography|url=https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/suleimani.pdf|journal=Middle Eastern Outlook|volume=1|page=2 of 7|access-date=18 February 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925041643/http://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/suleimani.pdf|archive-date=25 September 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/world/middleeast/qassem-soleimani-iraq-iran-attack.html|title=Iran Confirms Death of Powerful Revolutionary Guard Commander|work=The New York Times|date=3 January 2020|access-date=27 July 2023|archive-date=3 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103022034/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/02/world/middleeast/qassem-soleimani-iraq-iran-attack.html|url-status=live}}

}}

{{Officeholder table

| order = 3

| image = Esmail Ghaani in january 2020.jpg

| military_rank = Brigadier general

| officeholder = Esmail Qaani

| officeholder_sort = Qaani, Esmail

| born_year = 1957

| died_year =

| term_start = 3 January 2020

| timeinoffice = {{ayd|2020|01|03}}

| ref = {{Cite web|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/03/reuters-america-iran-names-deputy-commander-of-quds-force-to-replace-soleimani-after-killing.html|title=Iran names deputy commander of Quds force to replace Soleimani after killing|date=2020-01-03|website=CNBC|language=en|access-date=2020-01-03|archive-date=14 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314121541/https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/03/reuters-america-iran-names-deputy-commander-of-quds-force-to-replace-soleimani-after-killing.html|url-status=dead}}

}}

{{Officeholder table end}}

File:Final Video.webm regarding the 2024 U.S. elections, Trump's "fate", and threatening to assassinate Donald Trump and the United States Military

commanders by Hajizadeh, the commander of IRGC.]]

File:Zeinab Soleimani (IRGC).webm expresses her anger and vows revenge for Soleimani killing from Donald Trump.]]

The United States Department of the Treasury designated the Quds Force under Executive Order 13224 for providing material support to US-designated terrorist organizations on 25 October 2007, prohibiting transactions between the group and U.S. citizens, and freezing any assets under U.S. jurisdiction.{{cite web|url=http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/hp644.aspx|title=Fact Sheet: Designation of Iranian Entities and Individuals for Proliferation Activities and Support for Terrorism|date=25 October 2007|publisher=U.S. Department of the Treasury|access-date=11 November 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110014318/http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/hp644.aspx|archive-date=10 November 2014|url-status=live}} The Government of Canada designated the Quds Force as a terrorist organization on 17 December 2012.{{cite web |url=http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-eng.aspx |title=Currently listed entities |publisher=Publicsafety.gc.ca |access-date=11 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202121931/https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/ntnl-scrt/cntr-trrrsm/lstd-ntts/crrnt-lstd-ntts-eng.aspx |archive-date=2 February 2017 |url-status=live }} Israel designated the Quds Force as a terrorist organization in March 2015.{{Cite web|title=Israel designates the Quds Force as a terrorist group.|url=https://www.justice.gov.il/En/Units/FBPS/DNFBPDuties/Pages/List-of-Terrorist-Organizations-and-Individuals.aspx|access-date=30 September 2020|archive-date=2 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202012325/https://www.justice.gov.il/En/Units/FBPS/DNFBPDuties/Pages/List-of-Terrorist-Organizations-and-Individuals.aspx|url-status=live}}

On 23 October 2018, the kingdoms of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, both involved in Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against Quds Force-backed Houthis, designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization. The designation also included former commander Qasem Soleimani.[https://www.euronews.com/2018/10/23/saudi-bahrain-add-irans-irgc-to-terror-lists-spa Saudi, Bahrain add Iran's IRGC to terror lists - SPA] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510040315/https://www.euronews.com/2018/10/23/saudi-bahrain-add-irans-irgc-to-terror-lists-spa |date=10 May 2019 }} euronews.com

In April 2019, the U.S. made the decision to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a foreign military, as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department under an immigration statute and their maximum pressure campaign.[https://www.npr.org/2019/04/08/710987393/u-s-labels-irans-revolutionary-guard-as-a-foreign-terrorist-organization U.S. Labels Iran's Revolutionary Guard As A Foreign Terrorist Organization] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610123914/https://www.npr.org/2019/04/08/710987393/u-s-labels-irans-revolutionary-guard-as-a-foreign-terrorist-organization |date=10 June 2019 }} npr.org This designation was done over the opposition of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Department of Defense (DoD).[https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/world/middleeast/trump-iran-revolutionary-guard-corps.html Trump Designates Iran's Revolutionary Guards a Foreign Terrorist Group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190408170930/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/08/world/middleeast/trump-iran-revolutionary-guard-corps.html |date=8 April 2019 }} nytimes.com[https://time.com/5566817/iran-terrorist-designation-irgc-trump/ Why Trump's Latest Move Against Iran Was Pointless—and Dangerous] time.com[https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/mattis-iran-is-the-biggest-threat-to-mideast-peace Mattis: Iran is the biggest threat to Mideast peace] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190527152527/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/mattis-iran-is-the-biggest-threat-to-mideast-peace |date=27 May 2019 }} washingtonexaminer.com

On 28 August 2019, when Israel's foreign minister Katz made a visit to the United Kingdom, he asked the UK's foreign minister Dominic Raab to designate the Quds Force as a terrorist organization.{{Cite web|last=staff|first=T. O. I.|title=Israel asks UK to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards a terror organization|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-asks-uk-to-designate-irans-revolutionary-guards-a-terror-organization/|access-date=2020-09-30|website=www.timesofisrael.com|language=en-US|archive-date=19 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419034331/https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-asks-uk-to-designate-irans-revolutionary-guards-a-terror-organization/|url-status=live}} The US government's Rewards for Justice Program offers $15 million for information on QF financing.{{cite web | url=https://www.iranintl.com/en/202206127955 | title=US Offers up to $15M Reward for {{as written|Infom|ation [sic]}} on IRGC Finances | date=13 June 2023 | access-date=27 July 2023 | archive-date=18 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418111341/https://www.iranintl.com/en/202206127955 | url-status=live }}

The Quds Force circumvents international sanctions against Iran by forming fake businesses and institutions.{{sfn|Ustiashvili|2023|p=4936}}

On 1 May 2020, The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated dual Iranian and Iraqi national Amir Dianat, associate of Revolutionary Guards Quds Force officials. The religion, Dianat, who also known as Amir Abdulazeez Jaafar, has been involved in the Quds Force's efforts to generate revenue and smuggle weapons abroad. The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) also designating "Taif" Mineral Mining Services Company, a company owned, controlled, or directed by Dianat.{{cite news |title=Treasury Designates IRGC-Qods Force Front Company and Owner |url=https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm995 |agency=U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY |date=1 May 2020 |access-date=27 July 2023 |archive-date=2 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200502025041/https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm995 |url-status=live }}

{{Main|List of wars and battles involving the Quds Force}}

;1981: The Irregular Warfare Headquarters is established within the Revolutionary Guards by Defense Minister Mostafa Chamran, in cooperation with Mohammad Montazeri's Department for Islamic Liberation Movements. These groups had the task of carrying out Ayatollah Khomeini's policy of exporting the Islamic revolution abroad, to Shia-majority countries ruled by non-Shia minorities. Elements of the Revolutionary Guards help establish the Shia Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, as well as the Badr Organization in Iraq to fight against Saddam Hussein.John L. Esposito, The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality? Oxford University Press,(1992) pp. 146-151Independent, 23 October 1991

;1982: A contingent of 1,500 Revolutionary Guards, led by Hossein Dehghan and Ali Akbar Mohtashamipur are dispatched to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley to train Hezbollah fighters resisting Israeli aggression. A bomb is detonated inside the Israeli Defense Forces Tyre headquarters in November, killing 75 Israeli Shin Bet agents. Hezbollah and the Guards were suspected of orchestrating the attack.{{Cite web | title=TERRORIST NERVE CENTER TEMPTING TARGET {{!}} CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov) | url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp90-00965r000100110159-7 | access-date=2025-02-15 | website=www.cia.gov}}

;1983: The 1983 US embassy bombing in Beirut and 1983 Beirut barracks bombing kill over 300 American and French soldiers and diplomats, including the CIA's top Middle East analyst and Near East director, Robert Ames, Station Chief Kenneth Haas, James Lewis and most of the Beirut staff of the CIA. American courts have found Hezbollah's chief of operations Imad Mughniyeh and Quds Force General Ali-Reza Asgari responsible for directing the attacks. A second bomb in Tyre kills 28 Israeli soldiers.{{cite web | url=https://www.businessinsider.com/tony-badran-us-ignoring-beirut-bombings-2014-10?r=UK&IR=T | title=The US's Iran Outreach Shows Obama Hasn't Learned the Lessons of the Beirut Marine Barracks Attack | website=Business Insider }} A bomb detonation inside the U.S. embassy in Kuwait kills 17 Americans. Iraqi Badr Organization military chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Hezbollah operative Mustafa Badreddine were suspected of carrying out the attack with help from the Guards.{{cite news |first=Babak |last=Dehghanpisheh |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-militias-specialreport-idUSKCN0IW0ZA20141112 |title=Special Report: The fighters of Iraq who answer to Iran |date=12 November 2014 |work=Reuters}}

;1984: The 1984 US embassy bombing in Beirut by the pro-Iranian Islamic Jihad Organization results in the withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Lebanon.

;1988: The Quds Force becomes an independent branch of the Guards, with Ahmad Vahidi as its first commander.

;1990: Quds Force Brigadier-General Razi Mousavi is dispatched to Syria. In the following 33 years he headed the Quds Force Logistical Division "Unit 2250", responsible for coordinating Iranian logistical support for Syria's Assad government.{{cite news |title=Who is Radi Mousavi, who was close to Soleimani and Nasrallah, who was killed by Israel in Syria? |url=https://www.alarabiya.net/iran/2023/12/25/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%AA%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%B3-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%B1%D8%B6%D9%8A-%D9%85%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%88%D9%8A-%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%BA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7 |access-date=25 December 2023 |publisher=Al Arabiya |date=25 December 2023 |language=Arabic}}{{cite news |title=Razi Mousavi, one of the IRGC forces in Syria and close to Qassem Soleimani, was killed in an Israeli attack |url=https://www.iranintl.com/202312256571 |access-date=25 December 2023 |publisher=Iran International |date=25 December 2023 |language=Persian}}{{cite news |title=Israeli air strike in Syria kills top Iranian military adviser |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/25/israeli-air-strike-in-syria-kills-top-iranian-general |access-date=25 December 2023 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=25 December 2023}}

;1993: The Quds Force sends more than five{{Cite web|url=http://markcurtis.info/2016/10/11/a-covert-war-in-bosnia/|title=A Covert War in Bosnia|date=11 October 2016}}) thousand tonnes of arms to the Bosnian Muslims fighting in the Bosnian War.{{sfn|O'Hern|2012|p=82}} IRGC also supplied trainers and advisers for the Bosnian military and intelligence service.{{sfn|O'Hern|2012|p=82}} Several dozen Iranian intelligence experts joined the Bosnian Muslim intelligence agency.{{sfn|Shay|2017|p=94}} Robert Baer, a CIA agent stationed in Sarajevo during the war, later claimed that "In Sarajevo, the Bosnian Muslim government is a client of the Iranians . . . If it's a choice between the CIA and the Iranians, they'll take the Iranians any day." By the war's end, public opinion polls showed some 86% of the Bosnian Muslim population expressed a positive attitude toward Iran. Quds Force Major-General Qasem Soleimani was also reported to have personally fought in Bosnia in 1993-94.{{cite web | url=https://sarajevotimes.com/assertion-iranian-general-qassem-soleimani-was-in-bosnia-herzegovina-during-the-war/ | title=Assertion: Iranian general Qassem Soleimani was in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the War | date=8 January 2020 }}

;1994: The AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires kills 85 Jewish and Israeli citizens. Argentinian courts have accused Quds Force commander Vahidi and Hezbollah commander Mughniyeh of being responsible for directing the attack.{{cite web | url=https://www.jpost.com/iranian-threat/news/iranian-minister-wanted-over-amia-attack | title=Iranian minister wanted over AMIA attack | date=22 August 2009 }}

;1995: An attack on the Egyptian Embassy in Pakistan (Islamabad) by the Egyptian Islamic Jihad kills 17 people. Former CIA agent Robert Baer claims that Imad Mughniyah, with Quds Force approval, "facilitated the travel" of somebody involved, and that one of his deputies had "provided a stolen Lebanese passport to one of the planners of the bombing".Baer, Robert, See No Evil, 2003

;1996: The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia by the Shia group Hezbollah Al-Hejaz kills 19 American soldiers. Quds Force commander Vahidi is implicated in directing the attack.{{cite web | url=https://iranfocus.com/terrorism/30238-ncri-iran-s-revolutionary-guards-masterminded-khobar-towers-attack/ | title=NCRI: Iran's Revolutionary Guards masterminded Khobar Towers attack | date=27 August 2015 }}

;1997: Qasem Soleimani succeeds Vahidi as head of the Force. Under Soleimani, the Force's modus operandi shifts away from suicide bombings and towards helping allied organizations throughout the Middle East merge militant and state power.{{cite web | url=https://ctc.westpoint.edu/qassem-soleimani-irans-unique-regional-strategy/ | title=Qassem Soleimani and Iran's Unique Regional Strategy | date=8 November 2018 }}

;1998: The Force begins supporting the Northern Alliance in its fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

;2001: The Force cooperates with the United States Army in driving out the Taliban and al-Qaeda from Herat during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.{{cite news |url=http://www.spongobongo.com/her9940.htm |title=Iranian Special Forces Reportedly Fight Alongside US in Battle for Herat |work=Foreign Broadcast Information Service |date=16 November 2001}}

;2002: During the Second Intifada, Soleimani and Mughniyeh oversee the smuggling of weapons to the Palestinian Hamas and Islamic Jihad factions, according to Anis al-Naqqash.{{cite tweet |user=timand2037 |first=Tim |last=Anderson |title=Anis al Naqqash: how Iran's #Soleimani and Lebanon's #Mugniyeh helped #Palestine - From al Mayadeen and MEMRI TV, 31 December 2021 |number=1347826566588297218}}{{cite tweet|user=AryJeay |name=Arya |title=Abdul Hadi, a Hamas leader & Hamas rep in Lebanon, said the idea of digging a tunnel in Gaza, which is more than 360km long, was raised by 2 people. Martyr Emad Mughniyeh & Haj Qassem Soleimani, who traveled to Gaza many times and participated in the creation of defense lines. |number=1478535445277458435}}

;2004: The Iraqi insurgency against U.S. occupation begins. The Quds Force provides the insurgents with weapons, most notably explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) or roadside bombs, used to devastating effect against coalition forces and Blackwater mercenaries, as in the 2004 Fallujah ambush and 2004 Good Friday ambush.{{Cite news |last=Horton |first=Alex |date=2020-01-03 |title=Soleimani's legacy: The gruesome, advanced IEDs that haunted U.S. troops in Iraq |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2020/01/03/soleimanis-legacy-gruesome-high-tech-ieds-that-haunted-us-troops-iraq/ |access-date=2024-02-01 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2015/09/how-many-us-troops-were-killed-iranian-ieds-iraq/120524/|title=How Many US Troops Were Killed By Iranian IEDs in Iraq?|date=8 September 2015|website=Defense One}}{{Cite web|url=https://jcpa.org/killing-americans-allies-irans-war/|title=Killing Americans and their Allies: Iran's Continuing War against the U.S. and the West|website=Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs}}

;2006: In July and August, Soleimani was part of the three-man operational command in Beirut that led all of Hezbollah operations in the war against Israel, alongside Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah and Mughniyeh.{{Cite web|url=https://english.aawsat.com/node/1929396|title=Soleimani Reveals Details of Role He Played in the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War|website=english.aawsat.com}}

;2007: On 20 January, Iraqi Shia militia Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, with training provided in Iran by Quds Force General Abdolreza Shahlaei and Hezbollah sniper network leader Ali Musa Daqduq, launches a successful commando operation against the U.S. Army's Karbala Joint Coordination headquarters, infiltrating it and killing five American soldiers.{{cite news|first=Steven R. |last=Hurst |author2=Qassim Abdul-Zahra |title=4 Troops Abducted, Killed in Iraq Attack |url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2827366 |publisher=ABC News |agency=AP |date=26 January 2007 |access-date=27 January 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070128134000/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2827366 |archive-date=28 January 2007}}

On the same day, twenty more American soldiers were killed by other insurgents throughout Iraq, making it the third worst day for U.S. troops in the entire war.{{cite news |title=20 U.S. Troops Killed in Iraq |newspaper=Washington Post |url-access=registration |date=2007-01-21 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2007/01/21/20-us-troops-killed-in-iraq-span-classbankheadday-is-3rd-worst-since-war-beganspan/42aca7b8-a0dd-4581-9c70-30d65e47531c/}}{{cite news |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/22/iraq.karbala/index.html |title=Karbala attackers posed as U.S. military officials |work=CNN |date=2007-01-23 |access-date=6 December 2024 |archive-date=27 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027020445/https://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/01/22/iraq.karbala/index.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite news | url=https://www.denverpost.com/2007/01/20/u-s-helicopter-crash-kills-13/ | title=U.S. Helicopter crash kills 13 | date=20 January 2007 |work=Denver Post |agency=Associated Press}}

;2009: According to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Soleimani was present at the Palestinian Joint Operations Room in Damascus, Syria throughout January, overseeing operations against the Israeli Army during the 2008-2009 Gaza War.{{cite web | url=https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/iran-hamas-relationship-in-2008 | title=Iran-Hamas Relationship in 2008 |first=Charlie |last=Szrom |date=2009-02-18 |work=Critical Threats |department=Analysis}}

;2012: The Quds Force oversees the formation and training of the pro-Assad National Defence Forces in the Syrian Civil War, modeled on the Basij of Iran.{{cite news |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/05/the-myth-of-iran-s-military-mastermind.html |title=The Myth of Iran's Military Mastermind |work=The Daily Beast |last=Siegel |first=Jacob |date=5 June 2015 |access-date=5 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150606034609/http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/05/the-myth-of-iran-s-military-mastermind.html |archive-date=2015-06-06 |url-status=live }}

;2013: The Force provides further financial, military, logistical and personnel support to Assad, and oversees the formation and training of the Liwa Fatemiyoun and Liwa Zainebiyoun militias consisting of Afghan and Pakistani Shias, to fight in Syria, as well as of Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon.{{cite web | url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/04/qassem-soleimani-reportedly-spotted-in-syrias-hama-province.php | title=Qassem Soleimani reportedly spotted in Syria's Hama province | FDD's Long War Journal | date=2 April 2017 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2017/06/qassem-soleimani-spotted-in-syria-near-the-iraqi-border.php | title=Qassem Soleimani allegedly spotted in Syria near the Iraqi border | FDD's Long War Journal | date=14 June 2017 }}

;2014: The Force oversees the merger of various Iraqi Shia militias into the Popular Mobilization Forces fighting on the side of the Iraqi government against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The PMF is led by Hadi al-Amiri and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, two Badr Organization leaders with ties το Iran since the 1980s.{{cite web|title=Analysis 03-06-2015 |url=http://thinktankmonitor.org/analysis-03-06-2015/ |website=Center for American and Arab Studies |access-date=17 March 2015 |date=7 March 2015}} The Force also supplies arms to Kurdish Peshmerga fighting the Islamic State in Iraqi Kurdistan.{{cite news | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/who-was-qasem-soleimani-top-iranian-general-once-considered-second-most-powerful-in-iran-after-khamenei-101704289872988.html | title=Who was Qasem Soleimani, top Iranian general once considered second most powerful in Iran after Khamenei? | newspaper=Hindustan Times | date=3 January 2024 }}

;2015: Soleimani personally commands victorious operations against the Islamic State such as the Second Battle of Tikrit in Iraq{{cite web | url=https://www.newsweek.com/iranian-military-mastermind-leading-battle-recapture-tikrit-isis-311516 | title=Iranian Military Mastermind Leading Battle to Recapture Tikrit from ISIS | website=Newsweek | date=5 March 2015 }} and the Aleppo offensive (October–December 2015).{{cite web | url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iranian-syrian-commanders-meet-discuss-upcoming-aleppo-offensive/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917192757/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/iranian-syrian-commanders-meet-discuss-upcoming-aleppo-offensive/ | archive-date=17 September 2016 | title=Iranian, Syrian commanders meet to discuss upcoming Aleppo offensive }}{{cite web | url=https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2016/09/soleimanis-presence-in-aleppo-underscores-strategy-of-crushing-rebels.php | title=Soleimani's presence in Aleppo underscores strategy of crushing rebels | FDD's Long War Journal | date=7 September 2016 }} He also personally leads a commando operation to rescue a downed Russian pilot inside enemy territory.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newser.com/story/216707/report-iran-general-saved-russian-pilot.html|title=Russian Pilot's Rescue Was Basically "Behind Enemy Lines" Brought to Life|first=Arden|last=Dier|date=27 November 2015|website=Newser}}

;2016: Soleimani completes the encirclement of Aleppo in Syria{{cite web | url=https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/general-suleimani-oversees-the-large-scale-offensive-in-southern-aleppo/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401194004/https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/general-suleimani-oversees-the-large-scale-offensive-in-southern-aleppo/ | archive-date=1 April 2019 | title=General Suleimani Oversees the Large-Scale Offensive in Southern Aleppo }} and leads the liberation of Fallujah in Iraq.{{cite web | url=https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13950304001274/Iran39-s-Gen-Sleimani-in-Falljah-Operains-Rm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230313115909/https://www.farsnews.ir/en/news/13950304001274/Iran39-s-Gen-Sleimani-in-Falljah-Operains-Rm | archive-date=13 March 2023 | title=Fars | فارس }}

;2017: Soleimani and Syrian Arab Army General Suheil al-Hassan lead the final successful 2017 Abu Kamal offensive against the Islamic State in Syria.{{cite web | url=https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/leaked-pictures-iranian-major-general-arrives-southern-deir-ezzor-help-defeat-isis/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171110011922/https://mobile.almasdarnews.com/article/leaked-pictures-iranian-major-general-arrives-southern-deir-ezzor-help-defeat-isis/ | archive-date=10 November 2017 | title=Leaked pictures: Iranian Major General arrives in southern Deir Ezzor to help defeat ISIS | work=AMN - Al-Masdar News | المصدر نيوز | date=5 November 2017 }}

;2018: Quds Force General Abdolreza Shahlaei is dispatched to Yemen in order to coordinate the provision of Iranian military-logistical assistance to the Houthi Movement fighting against a Saudi and Emirati-led coalition in the Yemeni Civil War.{{cite web | url=https://abaadstudies.org/en/policy-analysis/topic/59831 | title=Iran's influence in Yemen after Soleimani .. The Houthis between containment and retaliation for the general }}

;2020: Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis are assassinated in Baghdad, Iraq. Brigadier-General Esmail Qaani, Soleimani's long-time deputy, becomes head of the Quds Force.

;2023: Razi Mousavi is killed in Damascus, Syria.: Quds force operatives arrested in Cyprus.{{Cite web |title=Στην «σκιά» τρομοκρατικής απειλής και πάλι η Κύπρος (ΒΙΝΤΕΟ) {{!}} AlphaNews.Live |url=https://www.alphanews.live/cyprus/stin-skia-tromokratikis-apeilis-kai-pali-i-kypros-binteo |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=www.alphanews.live |date=11 December 2023 |language=el}}

;2024: Brigadier-General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, alleged head of the Quds Force's Syria-Lebanon operations, is assassinated in an Israeli F-35 strike on the Iranian Embassy building in Damascus.

{{Portal|Iran}}

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{{Reflist|22em}}

{{refbegin|35em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Cordesman |first1=Anthony H. |title=Iran's military forces and warfighting capabilities : the threat in the Northern Gulf |last2=Kleiber |first2=Martin |publisher=Praeger Security International |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-313-34612-5 |location=Washington, D.C. |author-link=Anthony Cordesman}}
• {{Cite book |last=Dionisi |first=David J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2HsgKJ9CD4C |title=American Hiroshima: The Reasons Why and a Call to Strengthen America's Democracy |publisher=Sanzini Publishing |year=2006 |isbn=1-4120-4421-9}}
• {{cite book|last=O'Hern|first=Steven|title=Iran's Revolutionary Guard: The Threat That Grows While America Sleeps|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F9cJ1q-uFrcC&pg=PA82|year=2012|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc.|isbn=978-1-59797-701-2|pages=82–}}
• {{cite book|last=Shay|first=Shaul|title=Islamic Terror and the Balkans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=myEuDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT94|year=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-51138-4|pages=94–}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin|35em}}

• {{cite journal|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/369147615|title=The Quds Force and Its Involvement in the Conflicts of West Asia|last=Ustiashvili|first=Samin|date=2023|journal=International Journal of Science Academic Research|issue=1|volume=4|pages=4930–4938}}
• {{Cite journal |last1=Wigginton |first1=Michael |last2=Burton |first2=Robert |last3=Jensen |first3=Carl |last4=McElreath |first4=David |last5=Mallory |first5=Stephen |last6=Doss |first6=Daniel A. |date=2015 |title=Al-Qods Force: Iran's weapon of choice to export terrorism |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18335330.2015.1090053 |journal=Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=153–165 |doi=10.1080/18335330.2015.1090053|s2cid=155016409 |url-access=subscription }}

{{refend}}

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