Quds Force

The Quds Force, (Persian: نیروی قدس‎‎ Nīrū-ye Qods, or سپاه قدس Sepāh-e Qods) is a special forces unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards responsible for their extraterritorial operations. The Quds Force reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei. Its commander is Major General Qasem Soleimani and his deputy was Hossein Hamadani. While "little is reliably known" about the force, as of 2007, its size was estimated at 15,000 troops. The United States has designated the Quds Force a supporter of terrorism since 2007.

History

The Quds Force was created during the Iran-Iraq war as a special unit from the broader IRGC forces. Both during and after the war, it provided support to the Kurds fighting Saddam Hussein. The Force also expanded its operations into neighboring Afghanistan, most notably aiding Abdul Ali Mazari's Shi'a Hezbe Wahdat in the 1980s against the government of Mohammad Najibullah. It then began funding and supporting Ahmad Shah Massoud's Northern Alliance against the Taliban. However, in recent years, the Quds Force is believed to have been helping and guiding the Taliban insurgents against the NATO-backed Karzai administration. There were also reports of the unit lending support to Bosnian Muslims fighting the Bosnian Serbs during the Yugoslav wars.