Iran's IRGC Establishes New Cells in Iraq to Launch Drone Attacks on Gulf States
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has formed secretive new cells in Iraq to conduct drone attacks against targets in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, bypassing existing militia networks. The cells operated independently between April 20 and May 17, launching at least seven attacks from desert areas near Basra and Samawa.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has set up secretive new cells in Iraq to carry out attacks on Gulf countries hosting American forces, according to corroborated reports. Three or four cells, each consisting of about 10 elite Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim fighters, launched at least seven drone attacks from desert locations near the southern cities of Basra and Samawa against sites in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates between April 20 and May 17. According to inkl.com, a number of the cell members were drawn from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of hardline Shi'ite factions. Inkl.com also reported that the new cells operate outside the command structure of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and report directly to the IRGC. The establishment of the cells may have been influenced by other pro-Iran factions' readiness to disarm, and it challenges the Iraqi prime minister's balancing act between the U.S. and Iran. Separate report mentions IRGC claiming missiles targeted a U.S. base in Jordan.
This account was written only from facts that survived Augur's
corroboration pass — 2 corroborated across opposed news blocs,
0 contested (attributed to both sides), 2
single-source (attributed). Nothing was added; no significance was inferred.
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