A Feb. 16 rocket attack near the American Embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad has brought renewed attention to threats by an Iran-backed paramilitary group called Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba. The militants have vowed to avenge America’s January 3 killing of the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani.

Several rockets fell near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on February 16, causing multiple loud explosions and spreading fear in the area. Although there was no immediate claim of responsible for the attack, it focused analysts on the threats from Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi paramilitary group loyal to and backed by Iran, to take revenge for Soleimani’s killing.

Turning Point: the Assassination of Soleimani

Soleimani —Iran’s most influential military commander — was killed by a U.S. drone as his motorcade left Baghdad International Airport. His killing was a small detail in the larger picture of the ongoing showdown between the U.S., on one hand, and Iran, on the other.

The U.S. said it killed him because he killed American citizens in the Iraq War. Nevertheless, Soleimani’s killing pushed the region to the brink, given Iran’s pledge to make the U.S. pay for it. Iranian threats are taken seriously across the region for the simple reason that Tehran can easily turn these threats into action by giving orders to its allied militias to wreak havoc.

Iran-backed militias are present in Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Lebanon. A little less than 20 attacks have been staged on or near American troop concentrations in different parts of Iraq since Soleimani’s killing. Dozens of U.S. troops were injured in these attacks with many more reportedly having suffered traumatic brain injuries, and Iran says they are only the beginning of its ongoing retaliation against the U.S.

Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba: the Little Known Group Threatening the US

The U.S. currently has about 5,200 troops in different parts of Iraq, including in the Ayn al-Asad Military Base in the western Iraqi province of al-Anbar. These troops will apparently turn into targets for Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba in the coming period, with the group stepping up its threats against the U.S., following Soleimani’s killing.

On February 15, Nasr al-Shamri, the deputy commander of the militia and its spokesman, posted a photo of an American armored vehicle outside Ayn al-Asad base, with some U.S. troops inside it.

Under the photo he wrote: “We are far closer than you can imagine”.

On the same day, al-Shamri said his militia had started the countdown for responding to what he described as “American occupation troops”.

“This is an Iraqi decision par excellence,” al-Shamri wrote on Twitter. “We will not accept any request for delaying this response.”

From Humble Origins to a Fearsome Force

Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba was founded by Akram al-Kaabi – who is still the commander of the paramilitary group – in 2013. While it receives financial support from the Iraqi government, this militia does not get its orders from Baghdad, but from Tehran.

In March, 2019, the U.S. Department of State designated Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba a “terrorist” organization to tighten the noose around its financing. It accused the group of carrying out an Iranian agenda and of having loyalty to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Al-Kaabi previously served in the Mahdi Army, a paramilitary group loyal to Iraqi Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr. He plotted a series of attacks against the Iraqi government and the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.

In 2005, Iran tasked the Lebanese Hezbollah movement with forming a paramilitary group in Iraq with the aim of fighting American troops. Hezbollah Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah, ordered some of his officers to train the new group. This gave rise to the League of the Righteousness militia. Al-Kaabi became the commander of this militia in 2007.

Iran directly bankrolls Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba. According to some reports, Tehran pays each member of the militia $1,500 every month. In 2017, the militia formed the Golan Battalion with the aim of capturing the Syrian Golan Heights from Israel.

Al-Kaabi and his militia are also instrumental in backing Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad and have contributed to suppressing the ongoing demonstrations in Iraq. Over 500 Iraqis have been killed in the crackdown on the demonstrations – including by Iranian snipers – so far.

L'articolo Iraqi Militia Throws Down the Gauntlet to the U.S. proviene da InsideOver.

The Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps is having a new commander and he is very clear on the future action of his unit.

Brigadier-General Esmail Ghaani, appointed as force commander by Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, on January 3, said at a special ceremony in Tehran, the capital of Iran, on January 20, that his force would follow in Soleimani’s footsteps.

“Iran will powerfully continue Lieutenant General Soleimani’s path,” Ghaani, 62, said. “Resistance is the only way to defeat enemies.”

Strong blow

Soleimani was killed on January 3 in an American drone attack as he drove out of Baghdad International Airport.

His killing, the US administration said, came in response to his involvement in the killing of American citizens.

Nonetheless, Soleimani’s assassination was part of a new wave of US measures against the Islamic Republic, within a showdown aiming at clipping its regional nails.

Soleimani was by far the most prominent Iranian military commander and a close associate of the Iranian supreme leader. His killing left a bitter taste in the mouths of Iran’s top military commanders.

Powerful tool

Founded in 1980, the Quds Force is Iran’s long arm in the region. It sends its officers to train the members of militias affiliated to Iran in regional states.’

The force also has multiple training centers in different parts of Iran.

The Islamic Republic now moves the strings in several regional states, including in Syria; Iraq; Lebanon, and Yemen, and the Quds Force is its tool in this regard.

Expected course

Expectations are high that the Quds Force will work in the coming days to prove that Soleimani’s killing has not weakened it, but made it stronger.

Ghaani called for standing strong against Iran’s enemies.

“All threats can be turned into opportunities if we fulfil our duties,” he said.

This opens, however, the door wide for speculation on what the force is up to in the coming days.

This is particularly true after the Revolutionary Guard Corps said on January 20 that it would target three Arab states in the coming period.

Alarm

Such a threat is probably ringing the alarm in Arab capitals now, especially in the Gulf region, which falls within the range of easy targets for Iran.

Attacks were staged against oil facilities in Saudi Arabia in mid-September last year, giving the Arab Gulf rivals of the Islamic Republic an insight into what it can do.

The attacks negatively affected production from the facilities, which are run by Saudi oil giant, Aramco, and threatened world oil supplies.

Fears of Iranian reprisals, following Soleimani’s death, were probably behind Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad’s hasty visit to Tehran on January 12.

Qatar is home to the largest US military base in the Gulf region. Al-Udeid Air Base houses thousands of American troops. The drone that targeted Soleimani’s convoy on January 3 is believed to have taken off from this base.

The same fears are driving security action in the Gulf region and the Red Sea, especially off the coast of Yemen and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait which is within the reach of the Iran-aligned Houthi militia in Yemen.

Soon after Iran struck the US military base in Iraq with ballistic missiles on January 8, Khamenei said that such military actions are not enough.

The US forces, he said, have to leave the region altogether.

“The issue of revenge is another issue. They were slapped last night which is another issue. Such military actions will not be enough. The United States’ corruptive presence in the region must come to an end. They have brought war, sedition, destruction, and also the destruction of infrastructures to the region,” the Iranian supreme leader said.

The ultimatums of the new commander of the Quds Force up the ante in the region and add to speculation on where Iran can hit next.

L'articolo Quds Force Vowing to Follow In Soleimani’s Footsteps proviene da InsideOver.