17 Facts About Quds Force

In 1982, a Quds Force unit was deployed to Lebanon, where it assisted in the genesis of Hezbollah.

The Quds Force 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.

However, in recent years, the Quds Force is alleged to have been helping and guiding the Taliban insurgents against the NATO-backed Karzai administration.

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 other Western bodies.

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.

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Companies controlled by the Quds Force maintain banking relationships with the Bank of Kunlun, a subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corporation.

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.

The Quds Force reportedly fought alongside the United States and the Northern Alliance in the Battle for Herat.

Quds Force "operated throughout Iraq, arming, aiding, and abetting Shiite militias"—i.

In November 2006, with sectarian violence in Iraq increasing, US General John Abizaid accused the Quds Force of supporting "Shi'a death squads", while the government of Iran was pledging support in stabilization.

Chizari is the third highest officer of Quds Force, making him the allegedly highest-ranked Iranian to ever be held by the United States.

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.

Quds Force further emphasized there was "no evidence Iran ordered the attack".

In 2014, Quds Force was deployed into Iraq to lead Iranian action against ISIL.

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.

In January 2018, German authorities conducted raids in Baden-Wurttemberg, 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.

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.