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Qods (Jerusalem) Force Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC – Pasdaran-e Inqilab)

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Qods (Jerusalem) Force Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC – Pasdaran-e Inqilab)

 

While the Constitution of Iran entrusts the military with guarding Iran’s territorial integrity and political independence, it gives the Revolutionary Guard [Pasdaran] the responsibility of guarding the Revolution itself. Established under a decree issued by Khomeini on May 5, 1979, the Pasdaran was intended to guard the Revolution and to assist the ruling clerics in the day-to-day enforcement of the government’s Islamic codes and morality. The Revolution also needed to rely on a force of its own rather than borrowing the previous regime’s tainted units.

By 1986, the Pasdaran consisted of 350,000 personnel organized in battalion-size units that operated either independently or with units of the regular armed forces. In 1986 the Pasdaran acquired small naval and air elements. By 1996 the ground and naval forces were reported to number 100,000 and 20,000, respectively.

Domestic Operations

The Pasdaran has maintained an intelligence branch to monitor the regime’s domestic adversaries and to participate in their arrests and trials. Khomeini implied Pasdaran involvement in intelligence when he congratulated the Pasdaran on the arrest of Iranian communist Tudeh leaders.

The Baseej (volunteers) come under the control of the Revolutionary Guards. In 1988, up to 900,000 baseej were mobilized. The Baseej allegedly also monitor the activities of citizens, and harass or arrest women whose clothing does not cover the hair and all of the body except hands and face, or those who wear makeup. During the year ending in June 1995, they reportedly “notified 907,246 people verbally and issued 370,079 written notices against ‘social corruption’ and arrested 86,190 people, and also broke up 542 ‘corrupt gangs’, arresting their 2,618 members, and seized 86,597 indecent videocassettes and photographs.

The Ashura Brigades force was reportedly created in 1993 after anti-government riots erupted in various Iranian cities and it consists of 17,000 Islamic militia men and women. The Ashura Brigades are reportedly composed of elements of the Revolutionary Guards (Pasdaran) and the Baseej volunteer militia.

In August 1994, some Pasdaran units, rushed to quell riots in the city of Ghazvin, 150 km. west of Tehran, reportedly refused orders from the Interior Minister to intervene in the clashes, which left more than 30 people dead, 400 wounded and over 1,000 arrested.

Subsequently, senior officers in the army, air force and the usually loyal Islamic Revolutionary Guard reportedly stated that they would no longer order their troops into battle to quell civil disorder. A Pasdaran commander was among four senior army officers who are said to have sent a letter to the country’s political leadership, warning the clerical rulers against “using the armed forces to crush civilian unrest and internal conflicts.” In a communiqué sent to Ayatollah Ali Khameini, stated that “the role of the country’s armed forces is to defend its borders and to repel foreign enemies from its soil, not to control the internal situation or to strengthen one political faction above another.” They are said to have then recommended the use of Baseej volunteers for this purpose. In a move believed to indicate a shift in the trust of the ruling clerics from the Pasdaran to the Baseej volunteer force, on 17 April 1995 Ayatollah Ali Khameini reportedly promoted a civilian, veterinary surgeon Hassan Firuzabadi, to the rank of full general, placing him above both Brigadier-General Mohsen Rezai, commander-in-chief of the Pasdaran and Brigadier General Ali Shahbazi of the regular armed forces.

Foreign Operations

The foreign operations by the Guardians, which also encompass the activities of Hizballah and Islamic Jihad – are usually carried out through theCommittee on Foreign Intelligence Abroad and the Committee on Implementation of Actions Abroad. As with agents of Ministry of Intelligence, Pasdaran personnel operate through front companies and non-governmental organizations, employees or officials of trading companies, banks, cultural centers or as representatives of the Foundation of the Oppressed and Dispossessed (Bonyade-e- Mostafazan), or the Martyrs Foundation.

The Qods (Jerusalem) Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is responsible for extraterritorial operations, including terrorist operations. A primary focus for the Qods Force is training Islamic fundamentalist terrorist groups. Currently, the Qods Force conducts training activities in Iran and in Sudan. The Qods Force is also responsible for gathering information required for targeting and attack planning. The Pasdaran has contacts with underground movements in the Gulf region, and Pasdaran members are assigned to Iranian diplomatic missions, where, in the course of routine intelligence activities they monitor dissidents. Pasdaran influence has been particularly important in Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates.

The largest branch of Pasdaran foreign operations consists of approximately 12,000 Arabic speaking Iranians, Afghans, Iraqis, Lebanese shi’ites and North Africans who trained in Iran or received training in Afghanistan during the Afghan war years. Presently these foreign operatives receive training in Iran, Sudan and Lebanon, and include the Hizballah [“Party of Allah”] intelligence, logistics and operational units in Lebanon [Hizballah is primarily a social and political rather than military organization]. The second largest Pasdaran foreign operations relates to the Kurds (particularly Iraqi Kurds), while the third largest relates to the Kashmiri’s, the Balouchi’s and the Afghans. The Pasdaran has also supported the establishment of Hizballah branches in Lebanon, Iraqi Kurdistan, Jordan and Palestine, and the Islamic Jihad in many other Moslem countries including Egypt, Turkey, Chechnya and in Caucasia. Hizballah has been implicated in the counterfeiting of U.S. dollars and European currencies, both to finance its operations and to disrupt Western economies by impairing international trade and tourism.

The Office of Liberation Movements has established a Gulf Section tasked with forming a Gulf Battalion as part of the Jerusalem Forces. In April 1995 a number of international organizations linked to international terrorism — including the Japanese Red Army, the Armenian Secret Army, and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party — were reported to have met in Beirut with representatives of the Iraqi Da’wah Party, the Islamic Front for the Liberation of Bahrain, Hizballah, Iran’s “Office of Liberation Movements,” and Iran’s Guardians of the Revolution. Tehran’s objective was to destabilize Arab Gulf states by supporting fundamentalists with military, financial, and logistical support. Members of these and other organizations receive military training at a Guardians of the Revolution facility some 100 kilometers south of Tehran. A variety of of training courses are conducted at the facility for fundamentalists from the Gulf states, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Lebanon, including naval operations, mines, and diving operations in a special camp near the Orontes River.

The State Department asserts that Iran supports the Lebanese Hizballah, as well as Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, groups labeled as foreign terrorist organizations that are active in Israel.

Hizballah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qasim appeared to confirm the importance of Iran to his organization during a late-July ceremony in the town of Tulin, when he said “We must stand side by side against the Israeli enemy, because Lebanon’s strength is part of Syria’s strength, and Iran’s support and [Hizballah’s] support for Palestine are an honor for us.”

In January of 2002 – Israeli forces seized a Tonga-registered vessel, and found onboard 83 canisters – which were hidden in crates and among other cargo – and filled with 50 tons of weapons – including surface-to-air missiles and anti-tank mines. Intelligence reports indicate the likely involvement of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in facilitating this large arms transfer to other terrorist groups.

Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2003: Islamic Revolutionary Guard and Ministry of Intelligence and Security personnel were involved in planning and support for terrorist acts. Although Iran detained al-Qaida operatives in 2003, it refused to identify senior members in custody. Tehran continued to encourage anti-Israel activities, both operationally and rhetorically, providing logistic support and training to Lebanese Hizballah and a variety of Palestinian rejectionist groups.

During 2003, Iran maintained a high-profile role in encouraging anti-Israeli activity, both rhetorically and operationally. Supreme Leader Khamenei praised Palestinian resistance operations, and President Khatami reiterated Iran’s support for the “wronged people of Palestine” and their struggles. Matching this rhetoric with action, Iran provided Lebanese Hizballah and Palestinian rejectionist groups — notably HAMAS, the Palestine Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command — with funding, safehaven, training, and weapons. Iran hosted a conference in August 2003 on the Palestinian intifadah, at which an Iranian official suggested that the continued success of the Palestinian resistance depended on suicide operations.

Iran pursued a variety of policies in Iraq aimed at securing Tehran’s perceived interests there, some of which ran counter to those of the Coalition. Iran has indicated support for the Iraqi Governing Council and promised to help Iraqi reconstruction.

Shortly after the fall of Saddam Hussein, individuals with ties to the Revolutionary Guard may have attempted to infiltrate southern Iraq, and elements of the Iranian Government have helped members of Ansar al-Islam transit and find safehaven in Iran. In a Friday Prayers sermon in Tehran in May 2003, Guardian Council member Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati publicly encouraged Iraqis to follow the Palestinian model and participate in suicide operations against Coalition forces.

Iran is a party to five of the 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism.

Anonymous sources in the Israeli defense establishment said that Iranian involvement in terrorism in the occupied territories has increased. These activities mostly are run through Hizballah in Lebanon and, between 2002 and 2004 Hizballah had tripled or even quadrupled the scope of its operations in the territories. The threat to Israel from rockets provided to Hizballah by Iran and Syria has grown, both in range and quantity. Iran is supplying an array of rockets by air and sea and overland from Syria, while both countries are providing logistical support and training as well. Israeli Defense Forces intelligence chief Major-General Aharon Ze’evi-Farkash said on 2 September 2004, “we are dealing with a threat on the northern front. That also means Hizballah and Iran, as well as Syria.”

 

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IRGC activities on foreign territory

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IRGC activities on foreign territory

 

IRGC activity in Afghanistan

Iran’s involvement in Iraq is similar to that in Afghanistan, with the regime aiming to exploit American weaknesses in order to become a bigger regional player by spreading its ideas and influence.

Quds Force has also provided assistance to the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Quds Force provided training to the Taliban on small unit tactics, small arms, explosives and indirect fire weapons. Since at least 2006, Iran has arranged arms shipments including small arms and associated ammunition, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, 107mm rockets and plastic explosives to select Taliban members.

U.S. and NATO troops have intercepted shipments of Iranian-made arms in Afghanistan, including mortars, plastic explosives and explosively formed penetrators that have been used to deadly effect against armored vehicles in Iraq. Former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan William Wood said on January 31, 2008 that “there is no question that elements of insurgency have received weapons from Iran.” The discovery of the first caches of Iranian-made weapons in Afghanistan in Apri 2008, says a State Department official, “sent shock waves through the system.”

Iran remained unwilling to bring to justice senior al-Qa’ida members it has detained, and has refused to publicly identify those senior members in its custody. Iran has repeatedly resisted numerous calls to transfer custody of its al-Qa’ida detainees to their countries of origin or third countries for trial. Iran also continued to fail to control the activities of some al-Qa’ida members who fled to Iran following the fall of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.

 

IRGC activity in Iraq

Although Iran’s goals in Iraq since the U.S.-led coalition in invasion of Iraq in 2003 are not totally clear, it seeks—at a minimum—to do everything possible to counter U.S. influence in the country and the region, and to ensure that Iraq can never again become a threat to Iran. Iran has sought to achieve its goals in Iraq through several strategies: supporting pro-Iranian Shiite factions and armed terrorist militias; attempting to influence Iraqi political and sectarian leaders; and building economic ties throughout Iraq that might accrue goodwill to Iran. Iranian support for terrorist activity has hindered—and continues to pose a threat to—U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq, and has heightened the U.S. threat perception of Iran generally.

From 2005-2007, at the height of Iran’s support to Shiite militias, U.S. officials publicly discussed specific information on Quds Force – a special unit of the IRGC – and Hezbollah aid to Iraqi Shiite militias, particularly the Jaysh Al-Mahdi. Despite its pledge to support the stabilization of Iraq, Iranian authorities continued to provide lethal support, including weapons, training, funding, and guidance, to militant groups that targeted Coalition and Iraqi forces and killed innocent Iraqi civilians. The Quds Force provides Iraqi militants with Iranian-produced advanced rockets, sniper rifles, automatic weapons, and mortars that have killed Iraqi and Coalition Forces as well as civilians. Tehran was responsible for some of the lethality of anti-Coalition attacks by providing militants with the capability to assemble improvised explosive devices (IEDs) with explosives that were specially designed to defeat armored vehicles. The Quds Force, in concert with Lebanese Hizballah, provided training both inside and outside of Iraq for Iraqi militants in the construction and use of sophisticated IED technology and other advanced weaponry.

Various press reports have put the number Quds intelligence personnel in Iraq around 150. Some U.S. commanders who have served in southern Iraq said they understood that there were perhaps one or two Quds Force personnel in each Shiite province, attached to or interacting with pro-Iranian governors in those provinces. Quds Force officers often do not wear uniforms and their main role is to identify Iraqi fighters to train and to organize safe passage for weapons and Iraqi militants between Iran and Iraq, although some observers allege that Iranian agents sometimes assisted the Jaysh Al-Mahdi in its combat operations.

From December 2006 through October 2007 U.S. forces arrested a total of 20 Iranians in Iraq many of whom were alleged to be Quds Forces officers. In late 2007, the U.S. military released ten of them, but continued to hold ten caught in the northern Kurdish city of Irbil believed of high intelligence value. Eventually these remaining ten were also freed, the final five on July 9, 2009. On August 12, 2008, U.S.-led forces arrested nine Hezbollah members allegedly involved in funneling arms into Iraq.

On March 24, 2007, with U.S. backing, the U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1747 (on the Iran nuclear issue), with a provision banning arms exports by Iran—a provision clearly directed at Iran’s arms supplies to Iraq’s Shiite militias and Lebanese Hezbollah. In an effort to financially squeeze the Quds Force, on October 21, 2007, the Bush Administration designated the Quds Force (Executive Order 13224) as a provider of support to terrorist organizations. On January 9, 2008, the Treasury Department took action against suspected Iranian and pro-Iranian operatives in Iraq by designating them as a threat to stability in Iraq under a July 17, 2007 Executive Order 13438. The penalties are a freeze on their assets and a ban on transactions with them. On October 21, 2007, the Administration designated the Revolutionary Guard and several affiliates, under Executive Order 13382, as proliferation concerns.

 

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Nasar Khanizadeh, Kurdish Political Prisoners, Died in Urmia Prison

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Nasar Khanizadeh, Kurdish Political Prisoners, Died in Urmia Prison

HRANA News Agency – On Sunday afternoon, July 24, 2011, Kurdish political prisoner Nasar Khanizadeh died while being treated for a digestive illness in Urmia Central Prison, West Azerbaijan Province.

According to a report by Murkrain News Agency, Nasar Khanizadeh was recently transferred from Bokan Prison to Urmia for medical reasons. He suffered from some sort of gastrointestinaldisease and at the time of his death, was under medical care in Urmia prison hospital.

Nasar Khanizadeh was sentenced to 18 months in prison by the Revolutionary Court on charges of being associated and cooperating with opposition parties.

 

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Senior cleric blames police, military for lack of safety

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Senior cleric blames police, military for lack of safety

Senior Iranian cleric Ayatollah AliMohammad Dastgheib says security and military forces are creating insecurity in the country, and he accused the judiciary of blindly following their orders.

The Shiraz representative in the Assembly of Experts told Hadis-e Sarv website that, under such conditions, any talk of an obligation to participate in the elections is redundant.

The government critic went on to accuse the Guardian Council — the powerful body in charge of overseeing elections and upholding the constitution — of violating the law. He added that Parliament is also ineffective, citing its failure to carry out the plan to question the president, a motion that has been long in the making and has found stiff resistance despite having the support of 100 MPs at one point, which is well above the one-quarter support required for such a motion.

Ayatollah Dastgheib said the people are “disappointed and discouraged” and added that officials should take heed and “return to thier first principles instead of issuing threats.”

Ayatollah Dastgheib went on to say that the root of the country’s problems lies in the incorrect interpretation of the concept of velayat faqih or the leadership of an expert cleric. He insisted that the supreme leadership cannot be seen as sainthood. It is the duty of the Assembly of Experts to oversee the function of the supreme leadership, and if the assembly becomes subordinate to the leader, then it will be “a mockery.”

Ayatollah Dastgheib has been highly critical of the establishment’s handling of the protests that followed the 2009 presidential elections, which were marred by allegations of fraud. He has repeatedly condemned the house arrest of opposition leaders MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi and their wives, who have been completely cut off from the public since February 14, when they rallied people for the last major street protest.

Ayatollah Dastgheib was the only member of the Assembly of Experts that was not invited to its last meeting past September.

 

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Former Student Activist Mostafa Nili Summoned to Serve Prison Sentence

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Former Student Activist Mostafa Nili Summoned to Serve Prison Sentence

Mostafa Nili who had been arrested in 2009, was released on bail after 40 days of solitary confinement.

According to the Human Rights House of Iran, he was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison for acting against national security.

The court verdict was upheld by the Appeals Court.

 

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Iran’s attacks on dissident group claim civilian lives

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Iran’s attacks on dissident group claim civilian lives

Iran’s shelling in the Iraqi border region has killed or wounded five civilians in the Sidkan.

Ahmad Ghader Soor, the Sidkan Prefect, told Radio Zamaneh that two local residents were killed yesterday and three more were injured by Islamic Republic artillery attacks.

The Prefect also indicated that ranchers and farmers in the region have sustained great losses as a result of the attacks.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) forces began shelling the Iraqi Kurdistan border regions more than three weeks ago. Iran calls it a retaliation against PJAK, the dissident Kurdish group that is now based in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.

The International Red Cross says it has sent humanitarian aid to 800 displaced people in the border regions of Iraq-Iran and reports that 175 families have been forced out of their homes.

Iraqi authorities have called on Iran to halt the artillery attacks on their territory.

Both PJAK and IRGC forces have suffered several casualties in the conflicts of the past three weeks.

 

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Kurdish Activist Shahram Bolouri Sentenced to 4.5 Years

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Kurdish Activist Shahram Bolouri Sentenced to 4.5 Years

A source close to the case of Shahram Bolouri told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that the Kurdish activist’s 4.5 year prison sentence has been upheld by Branch 36 of Tehran’s Appeals Court. Last October, Bolouri, a Tehran resident, was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison by Branch 28 of Tehran’s Revolutionary Court on the charge of “assembly and collusion against the regime”.

During the events following the 2009 presidential election in Iran, Bolouri was arrested by security forces at his home on 23 June 2009. He was transferred to Ward 240 of Evin Prison where he spent eight months in solitary confinement and then to General Wards 209 and 350, under severe psychological pressure and physically challenging conditions.

The court initially set a $1 million bail for Bolouri, but due to his family’s inability to raise the bail amount, it was reduced to $200,000. He was released on bail on 16 February 2010. Judge Moghisseh, who presided over Bolouri’s trial, is one of the judges who has issued the heaviest sentences for political detainees after the 2009 presidential election.

 

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Iran Judiciary Says To Release Actresses On Bail

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Iran Judiciary Says To Release Actresses On Bail

Iranian judiciary spokesman Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie has said actress and filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani and actress Marzieh Vafamehr will be relased on bail. The two women were arrested separately earlier this month.

IRNA news agency quoted Ejeie on July 25 as saying that the two “should be released on bail today or tomorrow” after they were “prosecuted following reports by security officials.”

Ahangarani was arrested last week. She was due to travel to Germany to write her impressions of the Women’s World Cup in a blog created for her by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

She supported former opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi’s candidacy in Iran’s June 2009 presidential election, which saw the fiercely disputed reelection of Mahmud Ahmadinejad.

Vafamehr was arrested after appearing in the movie “My Tehran for Sale,” which has been harshly criticized in conservative circles.

 

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Jailed Journalist Mohammad Davari Receives an Additional Year in Prison

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Jailed Journalist Mohammad Davari Receives an Additional Year in Prison

The authorities at Evin prison have informed Mohammad Davari,  journalist and political prisoner, that his previous 5 year prison sentence has now been increased to 6 years.

Davari reportedly received this news while serving his 5 year prison sentence at Evin’s ward 350.

The additional one year prison sentence is reportedly as a result of Davari’s participation in demonstrations held by teachers in February and March of 2007.  Davari, a former active union member of the Central Council of Teachers was arrested in 2007 after attending demonstrations held by the teachers union. In 2008, the courts fined Davari $5000.- USD for attending these demonstrations.  His prison sentence has now been increased by one year as a result of not paying the aforementioned fine.

Mohammad Davari, journalist and editor of Saham News was arrested after Mehdi Karroubi’s controversial letter to the head of the Assembly of Experts exposing the horrific torture political prisoners had endured at the now infamous Kahrizak prison. Mohammad Davari has endured intense pressure and torture during his interrogation process with the goal to coerce him into a televised interview and forced confessions against Mehdi Karroubi.

 

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Mahdieh Golrou and Leila Tavasoli Return to Evin Prison

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Mahdieh Golrou and Leila Tavasoli Return to Evin Prison

 

Mahdieh Golrou who had been released along with Bahareh Hedayat for furlough has returned to prison after the security forces came to her house at night.  She was supposed to return to prison tomorrow morning.

She was arrested in 2009 after her home was raided by the security forces.

She was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison for anti-regime propaganda, and gathering and conspiring in order to disturb national security.Her sentence was later reduced to 2 years in prison.

She was also sentenced to 6 months in prison for anti-regime propaganda by publishing a writing from inside prison on the Student Day.

She is also serving a one year suspended imprisonment sentence.

Last Saturday was the first prison furlough after her arrest.

Leila Tavasoli who was on a 10 day prison furlough has also returned to prison to serve her sentence.

She is also daughter of Dr Mohammad Tavasoli, a senior member of the Freedom Movement Party, and niece of Ebrahim Yazdi, foreign minister of the Provisional Government of the Islamic Republic after the revolution in 1979 and the General Secretary of the Iran Freedom Movement Party.

Leyla Tavassoli was arrested at midnight on December 28th, 2009 at her residence in Tehran and was transferred to Evin prison.

Leila Tavasoli was sentenced to two years imprisonment during a 20 minute trial presided by judge Moghaieseh at Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court. Her charges included “participation in the June 15th and Ashura protests ” despite the fact that she has denied attending the riots in Tehran,  and interviewing with BBC and Radio Farda as an eye witness to a citizen being repeatedly ran over by a police car. Tavasoli was sentenced to two years imprisonment based under Article 46 of the Islamic penal code. Shahram Faraji-zadeh was the victim deliberately ran over by the police car.

 

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