Qods Force Threat to the U.S.

Iran's Qods Force Terrorist Plot in the U.S.

Maseh Zarif, Drawing Back the Curtain on Iran

"...it is time to recognize that past and present strategies aimed at curbing Iran’s ambitions and aggression are failing. The regime in Tehran and its agents are growing more hostile and have signaled in numerous ways that they remain at war with the U.S. and that they have no interest in reconciling or coming in from the cold."

Will Fulton, Qods Force Plot Foreshadowed by Official Rhetoric

"While the fantastical details of an operation that FBI Director Robert Mueller said “reads like the pages of a Hollywood script” may raise questions about the feasibility of the plot’s success, the aggressive rhetoric emanating from the upper echelons of the IRGC signals the organization’s desire and intent to implement such an attack."

Maseh Zarif, Qods Force Terrorist Plot in the U.S.

"The significance of this plot cannot be overstated: the Iranian government is now attempting to carry out terrorist attacks on American soil... Iran has been at war with the U.S. for decades; the regime, advancing on a path toward nuclear weapons, is now bringing that war to the American homeland."

Maseh Zarif, Will Fulton, Henry Ensher, Timeline: Qods Force Terrorist Plot in the U.S.

"Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force—the organization overseeing Iran’s global terrorist activities and reporting directly to Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei—has been plotting a mass-casualty attack on American soil targeting Saudi Arabian interests."

Michael Rubin, Iranian Plot to Assassinate Saudi Arabian Ambassador on U.S. Soil Must Force Obama to Change Policy

"The terror plot was no rogue action. Obama may hold an olive branch, but the White House must recognize the Iranian regime's fist holds only blood. The time for talk has ended."

Ali Alfoneh, Iran's Provocative Rhetoric

"[T]he IRGC commanders may have good reason for not reacting. After all, they have already declared their intentions against Saudi Arabia and the United States."

Michael Rubin, Iran and Saudi Arabia's 'Hate-Hate' Relationship

"Iran's animosity toward Saudi Arabia, however, should have surprised no one. Perhaps the only thing longer than Iran's animosity toward the United States is its hatred of Saudi Arabia."

Michael Rubin, Did Iran Really Plan a U.S. Hit Job?

"If the Qods Force is willing to act so ideologically and provocatively as to target Washington DC, then it would be fair for policymakers to ask who would have custody, command, and control over any theoretical Iranian nuclear bomb."

Resources on the IRGC and Regional Dynamics

Maseh Zarif, Qods Force Operation in Africa

"The arms shipment—whether destined for local militias or Iranian proxies in Gaza—demonstrates the ongoing efforts of the Qods Force, which was designed to export Iran’s revolution and reports directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamene’i, to export instability well beyond Iran’s borders."

Ali Alfoneh, Iran's Most Dangerous General

"To counter Suleimani and the Quds Force in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, US strategists need to understand his history of overconfident behavior and military successes."

Will Fulton, After the Arab Spring: Iran's Foreign Policy in the Middle East

"The transformative events of the Arab Spring have presented the Islamic Republic with new challenges and opportunities. Most notably, while the regime has been forced to confront the contradictions inherent in its foreign policy, it has nonetheless continued to project its influence using both hard and soft power tactics."

Will Fulton, Ariel Farrar-Wellman, and Robert Frasco, Saudi Arabia-Iran Foreign Relations

"In recent years, Saudi Arabia has publicly questioned the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Indeed, Saudi Arabia’s opposition to Iran’s nuclear program has generated speculation that the country might endorse military action against Iran should diplomatic approaches fail."

Katherine Faley, A Battle of Words: Bahrain vs. Hezbollah

"The standoff between the Gulf Arab states and Iran and its partners is in full swing...These charges are part of a nearly two-month-long battle waged between Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, and the Saudi-supported al Khalifa regime amidst legitimate, grassroots protests in Bahrain."

Ariel Farrar-Wellman, Mexico-Iran Foreign Relations

"As Iran has cemented friendly relations with other Latin American countries such as Venezuela and Nicaragua, Tehran has also approached Mexico to build good political relations with America’s southern neighbor."

Roger F. Noriega and José R. Cárdenas, The Mounting Hezbollah Threat in Latin America

"Over the last several years Hezbollah and its patrons in Iran have greatly expanded their operations in Latin America to the detriment of inter-American security and US strategic interests."