By: Reza Shafa
The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on an Iranian general from the elite Qods force. The U.S. Treasury Department, which made the announcement, named the general as Ahmed Foruzandeh (Ahmad Forouzandeh), who it said "leads terrorist operations" against U.S. forces in Iraq and directed assassinations of Iraqi figures, Reuters reported.
On January 11, 2007, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Foruzandeh and Brig. Gen. Mohammad Jafari Sahraroudi of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and current deputy Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) traveled to Iraqi Kurdistan for briefing the terrorist groups belonging to IRGC. However, when the US forces raided and arrested a number of IRGC officers and operatives in Arbil, the two were on their way back to Tehran.
Ramadan Garrison
IRGC from the beginning of its terrorist operations abroad assigned three garrisons of the Force to do the job. The three were, Ramadan Garrison in the west bordering with Iraq, Ansar Garrison in the east bordering with Afghanistan, and Ballal Garrison for Turkey, Europe and Far East. Of the three, Ramadan and Ansar are still active but Ballal no longer exists.
The Ramadan Garrison with its four tactical bases: Fajr in the southern city of Ahwaz, Zafar in the western city of Kermanshah, Raad and Nasser in the northwestern cities of Marivan and Naqadeh on the Iranian side of the border provide logistic support for the Qods Force operations in Iraq.
Ramadan Garrison was headed in the beginning by Brig. Gen. Mohammad Jafari Sahraroudi of the IRGC and current deputy Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) in Vienna. It is worthy of note that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the mullahs’ president, was the commander of the backup team in the operation.
The Qods Force is mainly focused on Iraq at the present. Iraq is the gateway to reach the rest of the Islamic world. The most senior IRGC generals as well as thousands of personnel are based in Ramadan Garrison. Their mission: To dominate Iraq. Large parts of southern Iraq are virtually in the control of the IRGC.
The regime has accomplished this feat by allocating billions of dollars, dispatching thousands of clerics and paying thousands of mercenaries on a monthly basis.
The Qods Force Fajr Garrison in Ahwaz has set up intelligence and reconnaissance squads to collect intelligence on the Coalition forces.
To this end, Ramadan Garrison commanders, including Brig. Gen. Ahmed Foruzandeh, the garrison’s commander, Brig. Gen. Obeidavi, Brig. Gen. Balalek, Fajr Garrison’s operational commander, Col. Heidar Saki, Fajr Garrison’s intelligence commander as well as a number of other Fajr intelligence and operations commanders have repeatedly traveled to Al-Amara and Basra to make contact with these squads. They have posed as Iraqis in order not to be identified.
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Reza Shafa is an expert on the Iranian regime’s intelligence networks, both in Iran and abroad. He has done extensive research on VAVAK (MOIS), IRGC’s Intelligence Office, and Quds Force among others. Currently he is a contributor to NCRI website.
