Info:
The IRGC-QF is the Government of Iran’s primary foreign action arm for executing its policy of supporting terrorist organizations and extremist groups around the world. The IRGC-QF provides training, logistical assistance and material and financial support to militants and terrorist operatives, including the Taliban, Lebanese Hizballah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command;
IRGC-QF officers and their associates have supported attacks against U.S. and allied troops and diplomatic missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The IRGC-QF continues to train, equip and fund Iraqi Shia militant groups – such as Kata’ib and Hizballah – and elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan to prevent an increase in Western influence in the region. In the Levant, the IRGC-QF supports terrorist groups such as Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas, which it views as integral to its efforts to challenge U.S. influence in the Middle East;
The Government of Iran also uses the IRGC and IRGC-QF to implement its foreign policy goals, including, but not limited to, seemingly legitimate activities that provide cover for intelligence operations and support to terrorist and insurgent groups. These activities include economic investment, reconstruction, and other types of aid to Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon, implemented by companies and institutions that act for or on behalf of, or are owned or controlled by, the IRGC and the Iranian government;
Provides financial and military support to militant and terrorist groups, including to Hezbollah and groups in Africa;
Officers have trafficked narcotics and use diplomatic, non-governmental, and, humanitarian organizations as cover for operational activities;
Has provided support and equipment to the Syrian government to repress civilian movements;
Has cooperated with Yas Air (Pars Aviation Services Company), Mahan Air, and Iran Air to reportedly supply the Syrian government with weapons and crowd control equipment;
Reportedly uses Syria as a hub to transfer weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank;
Has used DFS Worldwide to ship goods from Dubai to Tehran;
Has provided weapons, training, funding, and guidance to Shi’a militants in Iraq;
Has reportedly supplied Iraqi militants with explosively formed penetrators (EFP) and the shaped charges used in improvised explosive devices (IEDs);
Used Bank Melli for financial services and was sent at least $100 million through Bank Melli between 2002 and 2006;
In October 2010, facilitated an attempted weapons shipment including grenades rockets, mortars, and ammunition to The Gambia;
Weapons were shipped by Behineh Trading and Ali Abbas Usman Jega before being seized in Nigeria;
Also Known As:
IRGC-QF
Qods Force
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force
Pasdaran-e Enghelab-e Islami
Pasdaran
Sepah-e Qods
Jerusalem Force
Al Qods
Involved In:
Nuclear Weapon Program
Missile Weapon program
Military Weapon Program
Established:
1980
Country:
Iran
Branch:
Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolutionspecial forces unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards
Description:
Special operations force
Role Special operations
Person of interests:
Esmail Ghani – Commander of Quds Force Since Jan 3, 2020;
Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani – Died: Jan 3, 2020;
Hosein Afghajani;
Akbar Seyed Alhosseini;
Hushang Allahdad (financial officer);
General Gholamreza Baghbani;
Hasan Deghan Ebrahimi;
Alireza Hemmati;
Ali Sharifi;
Alireza Shirazi (representative of the Supreme Leader);
Sayyid Ali Akbar Tabatabaei (commander of the IRGC-QF Africa Corps);
Saeed Izaddhi (head of the Palestinian unit);
Brigadier General Ahmed Foruzandeh;
Colonel Hasan Mortezavi;
General Hossein Musavi (commander of the IRGC Quds Force Ansar Corps);
Deputy Commander Abdul Reza Shahlai;
Mohammad Reza Zahedi (commander of the IRGC Quds Force in Lebanon);
Reason for the color:
» The United States has designated the Quds Force a supporter of terrorism since 2007;
Allegedly has 12 directorates, garrisons designed to follow up on terrorist operations in bordering countries terrorist units assigned to specific extraterritorial regions, and training bases for foreign nationals and non-Iranian operatives; reportedly has between 3,500 and 5,000 members;
» According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, provides material support to Hizballah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), and the Taliban;
» Considered the primary instrument for providing weapons and financial support to anti-U.S. and anti-Coalition Taliban activity in Afghanistan;
» Provides guidance, funding, weapons, intelligence, and logistical support to Hizballah, including training facilities for fighters and an estimated $100 to $200 million in funding annually;
» Added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on October 22, 2020 pursuant to Executive Order 13848 for having directly or indirectly engaged in, sponsored, concealed, or otherwise been complicit in foreign interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election;
» Listed by the European Union on July 26, 2010 as an entity linked to Iran’s proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or Iran’s development of nuclear weapon delivery systems; with some exceptions, European Union member states must freeze all funds and economic resources owned, held, or controlled by the listed entity, and prevent funds or economic resources from being made available to it;
» Iranian Qods Force commanders linked to Taliban;
» Mahan Air terror airlines? IRGC runs country’s largest airline;
» An IRGC Qods force entity called Mahan, operating under the guise of a private company;