The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
Who was Iran’s Quds Force Gen Zahedi, killed in an Israeli strike in Syria?
Israelifighterjetsattackedaniranianconsulate building in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday, killing at least 13 people — including Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi, 63, who was a senior leader of the Iranian Quds Force.
Four Israeli officials confirmed to The New York Times that Israel was behind the strike, “but denied that the building had diplomatic status”. Iran has now vowed revenge against Israel. The strikes are another low in the countries’ relations, which have long been marked with hostility.
Who are the Quds Force?
The Quds Force is the paramilitary and intelligence wing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG). The IRCG was set up by the leader of the Islamic
Revolution and Iran’s first Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, in 1979.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution dislodged the ruling Shah from power, a theocratic or religion-based state was established in Iran. For its protection, the IRCG was created to deal with both domestic and external threats.
“Now highly institutionalized, it (IRGC) remains a force parallel to that of Iran’s regular armed forces,” according to the think tank Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). It has army, naval, and air force wings, and its total membership numbers around 125,000. Another branch, the Basij paramilitary force, “claims it can mobilize some six hundred thousand volunteers”, the CFR note says.
Domestically, IRCG members have been appointed to top government posts over the years. What concerns the rest of the region, however, is the IRGC’S military actions, espionage operations, and cybersecurity attacks. In 2019, the United States designated the IRGC (and the Quds Force as part of it) a terrorist organisation.
Then President Donald Trump issued a statement, saying, “This unprecedented step, led by the Department of State, recognises the reality that Iran is not only a State Sponsor of Terrorism, but that the IRGC actively participates in, finances, and promotes terrorism as a tool of statecraft...”
Where has the Quds Force been active?
The US and Israel have accused Iran of funding regional proxy groups in the Middle East, such as the Shia militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah fighters have engaged the Israel Defence Forces on the Lebanon-israel border ever since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas in southern Israel.
When the Syrian civil war broke out in the early 2010s, the Quds Force initially established a limited presence in the country to “protect Shiite shrines”, according to the CFR. However, they went on to intervene actively in the war, fighting against ISIS on the side of Syrian government forces, and working with the Russians to keep President Bashar al-assad in power in the face of strong US opposition to his regime.
Who was Gen Mohammad Reza Zahedi?
Hezbollah said on Tuesday that General Zahedi played a crucial role in helping “develop and advance the work” of the group in Lebanon, the AP reported. According to a report in The Guardian, Zahedi “commanded units in Lebanon and Syria and was most likely a critical figure in Tehran’s relationship with Hezbollah and Syria’s president, Bashar al-assad”.
A US Department of the Treasury statement from August 3, 2010, on freezing the assets of several Iranian leaders, including Zahedi, said that he “also acted as a liaison to Hezbollah and Syrian intelligence services and is reportedly charged with guaranteeing weapons shipments to Hezbollah”.
The other notable posts Zahedi held included the Air Force Commander of the IRGC in 2005, according to an Al Jazeera report. He also controlled the IRGC ground forces for three years. “He spent a year at the helm of the Thar-allah Headquarters, which is predominantly tasked with ensuring security in the capital, Tehran. From 2016 to 2019, [he] served as the IRGC’S deputy for operations as well,” it added.
Zahedi was the seniormost Iranian general to be killed since Gen Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the IRCG and head of the Quds Force, was killed in a US airstrike in Iraq on January 3, 2020.
Arab News reported that Zahedi was a “contemporary and close friend” of Soleimani. The two men enrolled in the IRGC while in their early 20s, and rose to prominence during the Iraq-iran war (198088). “It was Soleimani who appointed Zahedi commander of the Quds Force Lebanon Corps in 1998, a position he held until 2002, and to which he was reappointed in 2008,” the Arab News report said.
The US Department of Defense said in 2020 that Soleimani’s killing was a “decisive step” to protect US personnel abroad and that he was “actively developing” plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq.