During the war, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps created covert cells in Iraq to carry out attacks on Gulf states that host U.S. forces, Reuters reported Friday, citing eight Iraqi sources. The sources said the cells operated under direct Iranian command, outside Iraq’s known Shiite militia network, which helped Tehran avoid exposure while expanding its military footprint in Iraq.
According to the report, three or four such cells are active in the country. Each cell reportedly includes about 10 elite Shiite fighters, and they launched at least seven suicide drones from desert areas in southern Iraq near Basra and Samawa between April 20 and May 17.
The attacks were directed at targets in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. One of the main targets was Kuwait’s Ali Al-Salem Air Base, where American forces are deployed, as well as a military terminal at Kuwait International Airport. The strikes aimed at Saudi Arabia and the UAE were intercepted.
The Iraqi sources included security and military officials as well as local militia commanders. Analysts and militia leaders said the creation of these secret cells marks a major tactical shift for the IRGC, which is trying to preserve its regional reach as its proxy network, the so-called Axis of Resistance, has taken heavy blows. They also said Iran’s financial and military resources have been severely strained by the recent war, pushing it toward smaller, harder-to-detect operations that reduce the risk of direct retaliation.
