On February 2, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) made a number of new revelations public, through its American office in Washington DC. These revelations are in regard to the Iranian regime’s newest terrorist arm, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Naval Unit, and the information disclosed to the public contains details of its mission and naval bases.
The NCRI said, “According to information received from the network inside Iran of the main Iranian opposition, the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), the Quds Force has been recruiting mercenaries for newly created, armed, and trained terrorist units to attack ships and maritime targets in the region.”
The Quds Force have been conducting training sessions in Iran, offering specialized naval courses for mercenaries from Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and a number of countries in East Africa to give them the expertise to form naval units in their home countries, and expand the regime’s terrorist activities across the region via its proxy forces.
The details uncovered by the NCRI’s US office has outlined the Quds Force’s cycle of recruitment for these courses, as well as the terrorist training operations for the regime’s proxy groups and a list of the logistical and weaponry support that the regime has provided to them.
The NCRI said, “Since early 2021, and more so since August 2021, when Ebrahim Raisi took office as the new president of the Iranian regime, Tehran has stepped up its maritime terrorist operations using its foreign mercenaries, especially the Houthis of Yemen.”
The Quds Force faced a major blow, in their ability to intrude in the wars that have been ongoing across the Middle East, following the elimination of one of their top commanders, Qassem Soleimani, in January 2020. Therefore, in compensation, the IRGC has turned their focus to intervene in Yemen, by escalating terrorist naval activities.
The NCRI said, “The briefing also included information about how the Quds Force Naval Unit’s trained troops are organized in naval commando battalions, which are specifically deployed in the Arabian Sea, Bab al-Mandab, and the Red Sea to disrupt maritime navigation of commercial ships, to attack ports, conduct ship hijackings, and plant mines, among other things.”
A major smuggling network has been uncovered, through which the Quds Force has been providing the regime’s proxy groups with weapons and necessary equipment for potential naval attacks. In a bid to avoid detection, many methods are being used, as well as various routes between Yemen and Somalia, to transport the supplies.
Along with weapons, the Yemeni Houthis group have been equipped with speedboats by the IRGC’s Quds Force, akin to the ones used by the IRGC’s own Navy in the Persian Gulf. The goal, it seems, is to expand the current conflicts into the Arabian Sea and the Red Sea.
As the NCRI’s U.S. Representative, Soona Samsami underscored, with Western powers turning a blind eye to the regime’s activities, and continually offering them concessions, the lack of accountability for the regime’s top officials has only encouraged them to continue their defiant behavior.
The NCRI said, “Tehran’s latest game plan to create terrorist naval units and step up its regional mayhem is intended to project power and cover its fundamental weakness inside Iran. The regime hopes that this image will provide additional leverage internationally and domestically.”
Samsami highlighted that no matter what the outcome of the regime’s nuclear deal negotiations is, and regardless of what they chose to do with their nuclear weapon programs, the regime must still be held accountable for its proxy wars across the Middle East. They should also be held accountable for their brutal human rights violations, as well as the suppression of Iranian citizens in the waves of uprisings in the country.
With the IRGC and the regime’s proxy groups reliant on great financial support, amidst the deteriorating economic situation in Iran, they are fighting for survival. As a result, the regime has been desperately demanding sanctions relief to keep their oppressive forces on life support, both domestically and abroad, but to little avail.
The NCRI said, “The nationwide upheaval has rendered IRGC’s ranks and morale thin and the world needs to closely watch at what’s happening on the streets in Tehran, Beirut, and Baghdad to learn firmness and follow suit.”
