Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps established secret cells in Iraq to attack Gulf states that host U.S. bases, Reuters reported Friday, citing informed Iraqi sources. The sources said there were three to four cells operating in Iraq, each with about 10 Iraqi Shiite fighters.
According to the report, the cells launched at least seven drone attacks against Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates from desert areas near the southern Iraqi cities of Basra and Samawah. The attacks took place between April 20 and May 17.
Some of the fighters were reportedly drawn from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella network of several pro-Iranian Shiite militias that is part of Iran’s “axis of resistance.” Even so, the cells reportedly operated outside that group’s command chain and received direct orders from the Revolutionary Guard.
The article also noted that Israel has used Iraqi territory in the war. A Wall Street Journal report said Israel built a secret base in central Iraq before the campaign against Iran began, about 180 kilometers west of Najaf, roughly 400 kilometers from Iran and near the Saudi border, to support airstrikes on Iran.