Iranian Quds force recently came into limelight once again because of escalation of its conflict with Israel. Quds force fired around 20 rockets from Syrian Golan heights at Israeli military outposts but most of these rockets were either intercepted or fell with Syrian territory itself. Israel responded with overwhelming force it attacked dozens of Iranian targets across Syria in what the military said was the most extensive strike in the neighbouring country in decades. Let’s have a look at this notorious force of Iran which is on a rampage campaign across the whole Middle East. The Quds Force was established during the Iraq-Iran war (1980-1988) to undertake secret operations inside Iraq. But now after almost three decades of its establishment QF is considered as one of the most powerful security agencies in the Middle East. The Quds Force is one of the five branches of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and often refer as IRGC-QF. QF can be best described as a hybrid organisation which perform the task of an intelligence agency and a special force both. The IRGC-QF is the Iranian mullah regime primary foreign action arm for executing its policy of supporting terrorist organizations and extremist groups around the region.
Quds force not only operates to protect Iranian interest or to safeguard their country but it’s primary motive is to push Iranian regimes agenda in the region. QF is always in search of an opportunity where it can destabilise a fragile state to make it an Iranian satellite like it did in- Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. The Quds Force is the secretive spearhead of Iran’s push for hegemony in the Middle East. It has been training and equipping terrorist groups around the Middle East for decades, and it is responsible for some of the most notorious terrorist acts in the world. QF apart from creating its proxies also focuses on activating terrorist networks and training agents in sabotage, providing military and financial support to Islamist opposition organizations in Muslim countries, and operations against the Iranian opposition in exile. Force operatives also actively indulge in gathering of intelligence, the financing of terror groups and their operations on foreign soil, and the infiltration of foreign political parties, social groups and religious organizations. Its agents also engage in the surveillance of foreign government officials, religious officials and speakers to spot sympathisers which can be used either directly or as deep assets.
While dealing with its rival Sunni states in the region Quds force without any hesitation use terrorist acts either directly through its agents or through its proxies like Khobar bombing of 1996 in Saudi Arabia. In recent years the Quds Force exploited the democratic process most notably in Lebanon and Iraq using it to enhance the status of the terrorist organizations the militias and radical Islamic groups supported by Iran. Quds force successfully made its proxies a prominent political force in their home countries and by doing this Iran can anytime put immense pressure on the political leadership of these countries to accept Iran hegemony. Quds force is not a rogue intelligence service of a country which even don’t take its political leadership into confidence. Quds Force Commander Major General Qassem Suleimani reports directly to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. QF has offices in many Iranian embassies around the world, which operate as closed sections. Quds force showcase a classic example of state-sponsored terrorism.
Quds Force is clearly an obstacle for the process of peacemaking and stabilization in the Middle East. The United States Treasury Department in 2007 designated the Quds force as a material supporter of terrorism but that not sufficient enough US administration should go much further. Quds force along with its parent organisation that is IRGC should be is on the US State Department’s list of designated terrorist organizations. The efforts to counter QF support infrastructure for its proxy networks should also be a priority. Moreover, United States along with its regional strategic partners like- Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the other Sunni Arab states that share a common interest in countering Iran’s threatening ambitions should carve out an effective strategy to contain this Iranian agency. The should be a joint and coordinated efforts to put pressure on Quds Force to abandon its destructive role in the region.
(Author is a Columnist for Middle East and Af-Pak region and Editor of geo-political news agency Viewsaround)