Iran’s Most Powerful Unit Yet in Syria Targets U.S. and Israel, Intel Finds

NEWSWEEK-July 21st,2023

Iran has assembled a heavily armed unit comprising thousands of fighters from across the region capable of conducting attacks on U.S. troops in Syria as well as against neighboring Israel, according to a document shared with Newsweek by a member of an intelligence agency of a nation allied with the United States.

The intelligence official, who requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the information, told Newsweek that U.S. officials had been briefed on the contents of the document, which covered the existence of the “Imam Hossein Division,” said to be linked to the expeditionary Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“The Division is the Quds Force’s most elite fighting force in Syria, and is considered to have powerful and robust capabilities,” the document shared with Newsweek read

Armed with precision-guided munitions and both attack and spy drones, along with a broad array of lighter weaponry, the division conducted an intensive barrage of drone and rocket attacks that hit the U.S. military garrison in southeastern Al-Tanf in October 2021, according to the intelligence official.

The intelligence official also pointed to Imam Hossein Division operations launched against Israel, including a surface-to-surface missile attack in January 2019, a rocket attack in June 2019 and an attempted drone attack on August 2019 that was said to have been intercepted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The Imam Hossein Division in Syria, assembled by Iran in Syria, is “a multi-national combat force made up of thousands of fighters from around the Middle East” and was founded in 2016 under longtime Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani. According to a document shared with Newsweek. In this photo, A man holds a picture of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with Soleimani (L) during a demonstration in Tehran on January 3, 2020 against the killing of the top commander in a US strike in Baghdad.

More attacks against the two allies were said to be in the works.

“They are preparing and gathering capabilities in order to be able to cause a threat to American forces in Syria and to Israel,” the official said.

The document stated that the Imam Hossein Division was founded in 2016 under longtime Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. strike in Iraq in January 2020. The secretive outfit was described as having played a major role in supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad‘s government against rebels and jihadis, including the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), in the midst of the country’s civil war.

The Division represents a multi-national combat force made up of thousands of fighters from around the Middle East,” the document stated. “Today, the Division’s structure maintains thousands of fighters in the Syrian arena. Most of the operatives are Syrian, although some are from Lebanon, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Sudan, and other countries.”

“These operatives arrived in Syria as part of the ‘Holy War’ against ‘distorted’ Islam and ISIS, and remained in the area under the Quds force after the conclusion of intense fighting in the area,” it continued.

The group was also said in the document to be made up of several components, including “combat fighters, special forces equipped with advanced weapons, and headquarters and logistics sections.” Its advanced arsenal was described as having been directly supplied by Iran via cargo jets landing in Syrian airports, freighter ships arriving in the west coast port of Latakia and container trucks traveling to Syria through Iraq.