Quds Force

Israeli forces are on high alert in the north following a preemptive strike in Syria to stop an imminent Iranian drone attack.

Wikistrat sat down with Hudson Institute senior fellow and former U.S. intelligence officer Michael Pregent to get a deeper insight into U.S. policy options vis-à-vis Iran.

As pressure on Iran rises, Europe must be alert to the potential threat posed by Shi’ite militia fighters and the radicalization of European Muslim youths by Iranian Shi’ite revolutionary doctrine.

“The Islamic Republic is a theocratic dictatorship, and the IRGC is the core source of their power,” said CUFI Action Fund chair Sandra Parker. “From subjugating the Iranian people to supporting terrorists and rogue regimes, the IRGC is the backbone of Tehran’s tyranny.”

Created as a parallel force to the regular Iranian army after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps arms, trains, funds and deploys radical forces across the Mideast.

Kuwaiti daily: “IRGC Qods Force commander Soleimani’s visit in southern Syria sparked conflict with Israel; Soleimani said Russia had given Iran advance notice about Iranian targets in Syria that Israel would attack.”

Opponents of the rapprochement with Iran pointed to its military interference in the civil wars in Arab countries, arguing that the hands of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, were stained with the blood of many Arabs and Muslims.

The destruction of significant Syrian air defense systems is a painful blow, and a message regarding what might come next in the event of another escalation.

While the shooting down of the Israeli fighter jet was an accomplishment widely touted by Israel’s enemies, the destruction of significant Syrian air defense systems appear to leave Syria and it’s Iranian backers in a much weaker position to defend against future Israeli air raids.