Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have recently set up covert cells in Iraq to carry out attacks on Gulf states that host U.S. forces, Reuters reported Friday, citing eight Iraqi sources. The network is meant to bypass Iraq’s known militia structures, preserve Iran’s strike capability, and avoid leaving traces that could trigger retaliation.
According to the report, there are three or four cells, each with about 10 elite Shiite fighters. They were recruited from the ranks of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, but operate outside its command structure and report directly to the Revolutionary Guards in Tehran. The cells carried out at least seven drone attacks between April 20 and May 17 from desert areas near Basra and Samawah.
The attacks targeted several sites, including Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait, which hosts U.S. forces, and a military terminal at Kuwait International Airport. Other strikes aimed at Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were intercepted, and their specific targets were not disclosed. The reporting was based on human intelligence, intercepted communications, and on-the-ground findings.
Analysts said the move reflects Iran’s weakened regional position after the war, which damaged its allied network, including Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria last December, cutting key supply lines. Retired Iraqi General Jassim al-Badli said the new groups appear “smaller, more ideological and fanatical, and tightly controlled.” The secret cells also complicate Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi’s effort to curb militias and rebuild ties with Gulf states. Washington has renewed its demand that Baghdad dismantle all armed groups on Iraqi soil, while Iranian officials have said support for “resistance groups” is not negotiable.
