2004-10-27

Iranian Unrest; Regime Bases

A news release on Free Iran reported on the IRI's outposts in western Iran:

'Baghdad, Oct. 8 – Crack troops of the Qods Force (Jerusalem Force), the extraterritorial force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, operating out of their base in the border town of Mehran, have seized Iraqi territories in Zeyn al-Qos, Seif Sa’ad and al-Amarah regions, according to reports from the area.

In recent months, forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have moved their main headquarters from central Iranian provinces to those on the Iran-Iraq border. These include Marivan in the north, Mehran in the center, and Shalamcheh [very close to Khorram Shahr] in the south. Qods Force’s commanders oversee and direct their operations inside Iraq from these border bases.

The principle task of the Qods Force is to spread Iran’s “Islamic revolution” to other parts of the Muslim world. The Qods Force has been particularly active in the Iraqi theater and last April, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei decorated Qods Force Commandant General Qassem Soleimani for his “success in promoting Islamic revolution in Iraq.” News of the decoration was not made public.

Iraqi sources say that Iran has been setting up and financing “Islamic libraries” throughout southern and central Iraq and uses them as a conduit to wage propaganda and recruit young Iraqis.'

On another note, Dreams Into Lightning observes the locations of recent Iranian uprisings reported by dissident news media:

Hamadan (Oct. 21)
Mian-do-Ab, northwest Iran (Oct. 10)
Bushehr, southwest Iran (Oct. 4)
Isfahan, Shahin Shahr, Kashan central Iran (Oct. 1-2); also Bandar Abbas and Nour-Abad
Tehran, Esfahan, Hamadan, Ardebil, Shiraz, Kermanshah, Ahwaz, Falavarjan, Oroomiah (former Rezai-e) and Yazd (Sept. 30 - Oct. 1)