Iran's Qods Force: Proxy Wars, Terrorism, and the War on America

by Owen Sirrs

Overview

The end of the Cold War ushered in a challenging new era for U.S. defense planners. The certainties of planning for conventional war or, in extremis, nuclear war gave way to a new form of unconventional warfare waged by American adversaries like Al Qaeda, Somali warlords, and Iran. Iran's Qods Force examines how one nation state, the Islamic Republic of Iran, has exploited the advantages of unconventional warfare to expand its influence in the Middle East while, at the same time, limiting the impact of U.S. power in the region. At the forefront of its efforts is the Qods Force, the elite clandestine wing of Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Owen Sirrs analyzes how Iran uses unconventional warfare to try to achieve one of its most cherished objectives, hegemony over the Middle East, and demonstrates how U.S. policymakers and warfighters were repeatedly stymied by Iran‘s unconventional warfare strategy, which straddled the threshold between conventional and covert warfare. Iran pursues its hegemonic bid even though it lacks many of the accepted attributes of national power like a strong, diversified economy; a modernized, power-projection military; and allies to balance the strength of its many adversaries. Still, as the book explains through specific examples of Iranian covert action in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, Iran is closer to regional leadership in 2021 than at any time in the last three hundred years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682478059
Publisher:	Naval Institute Press
Publication date:	11/15/2022
Pages:	384
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Owen Sirrs is a graduate of Georgetown University, the National Intelligence University, and the Naval War College. He previously served as a senior intelligence officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency where he specialized in Iranian politics and strategy. Currently he teaches the politics, cultures, and history of the Middle East to the U.S. special operations community.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Acknowledgments xi

List of Acronyms xiii

Introduction: A Martyr's Death 1

Part I Origins and Early Activities

1 The Iranian Revolution's Everyman 9

2 Baptism by Fire 16

3 War with Iraq 27

4 The Birth of the Qods Force 33

5 The Lebanon Corps 40

6 The Hezbollah Trojan Horse 47

7 The Khobar Towers Bombing 56

Part II Afghanistan and al-Qaeda

8 The Qods Force in Afghanistan 69

9 The Qods Force and 9/11 78

10 Iran and al-Qaeda 87

11 Iran and Afghanistan after 9/11 98

Part III Iraq

12 The Greater Prize 109

13 A Multidimensional Campaign in Iraq 118

14 Task Force 17 131

15 Undeclared Covert War 140

16 Overlord of Iraq 150

Part IV The Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen

17 The Saudi Ambassador Plot 163

18 The Yemen Trap 171

Part V The Levant

19 Allies to Adversaries 189

20 Encircled 199

21 The Odd Couple 209

22 A Qods Force Tragedy 220

23 Coalition Warfare 226

24 General Soleimani Goes to Moscow 235

25 Entrenchment 243

Part VI Soleimani in Iraq: Soldier and Politician

26 Everywhere but Nowhere 257

Conclusion 273

Glossary 283

Notes 289

Bibliography 345

Index 353

What People are Saying About This

Cdr. Youssef Aboul-Enein

“There are today three threats tiers to the national security of the United States. The first and existential threat are Great Power Competitors, Russia, and China. The second is Iran and North Korea. The third tier is the continuous managing of global transnational terrorism. Owen Sirrs’ book focuses on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, the instrument that provides Iran options in two of these three tier threats. Iran is a tier two nuclear aspiring threat, supporting Putin’s war in Ukraine, and a tier three threat waging asymmetric war against the United States, Israel, and our Middle East partners. Owen provides a much-needed volume on the birth of the Quds Force, and evolution of its strategy, operations, and tactics around the world as the expeditionary arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. This book will be part of my reference library used in training America’s future warriors.”