Recently Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that if the US were to attack Iranian nuclear installations, it could expect an attack involving nuclear materials within US borders. This was the first such official threat from the Iranian leader. If you thought that this was empty, inflated rhetoric, this week, the US Department of Defense released its first warning on Iran’s special forces that amply illuminates their growing global reach.
The report on Iranian military power provides new details on the group known formally as the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), the Islamist shock troops deployed around the world to advance Iranian interests. The unit is aligned with terrorists in Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, North Africa and Latin America, and the report warns that U.S. forces are likely to battle the Iranian paramilitaries in the future.
The Qods force ‘maintains operational capabilities around the world,’ the report says, adding that ‘it is well established in the Middle East and North Africa and recent years have witnessed an increased presence in Latin America, particularly Venezuela.’ [Washington Times]
The unit establishes outposts anywhere Iranian interests need protecting and in areas of mutual concern between Iran and other countries or movements.
Qods force support for extremists includes providing arms, funding and paramilitary training and is not constrained by Islamist ideology. ‘Many of the groups it supports do not share, and sometimes openly oppose, Iranian revolutionary principles, but Iran supports them because they share common interests or enemies,’ the report says.
Other key points made:
…;Iran has the largest missile force in the Middle East, with about 1,000 missiles with ranges of between 90 miles and 1,200 miles. The missile program was developed and expanded with extensive help from North Korea and China, the report says.
The missiles have grown in sophistication with increased accuracy, warhead lethality and advanced technology that includes solid propellent for quick launches and anti-missile-defense capabilities for warheads.
The report says Iran is developing its military forces with some asymmetric weapons, including armed unmanned aircraft and coastal anti-ship missiles that can hit targets throughout the Strait of Hormuz, where up to 40 percent of the world’s crude oil passes.
Iran’s military is growing but “would be relatively ineffective against a direct assault by well-trained, sophisticated military such as that of the United States or its allies,” the report says.
However, Iranian special forces, like the Qods force, ‘would present a formidable force on Iranian territory,’ the report says.
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Posted on April 21, 2010