Nader Uskowi writes new book on Iran's IRGC-QF and Mideast conflict

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Nader Uskowi's anticipated new book title, "Temperature Rising: Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Wars in the Middle East" is now published and available for purchase.

The book details how the Quds Force and its allied Shia militias have fought in three theaters to advance Islamic Republic of Iran's regional ambitions and create a contiguous land corridor linking Iran through Iraq to Syria, Lebanon, and the Israeli northern fronts. The Iran-led operations are generating enormous political and security challenges for competing regional powers, contributing further instabilities in an already turbulent Middle East, with specters of direct military conflicts looming, pitting Iran against Gulf Arab states and Israel.


Mr. Uskowi has served as Senior Policy Advisor to United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), the branch of the U.S. military whose area of responsibility includes Iran and the Middle East, focusing on geopolitical and military developments across the region. He has recently testified before U.S. Congress, and published articles, appeared on Radio and TV news programs, and presented papers to seminars and symposiums on Iran.

Reviews for Temperature Rising:


“Temperature Rising is a riveting account of Iran’s way of war in the Middle East by a seasoned observer of the country’s regional strategy and military policy. Uskowi’s book is a powerful must-read for anyone interested in the region.” (General James Jones, former national security advisor to President Obama and former Marine Corps Commandant)


“If you want to understand Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and its action arm, the Qods Forces, Temperature Rising is the book you must read. Nader Uskowi takes you inside the organization, its funding, its relationship to the Supreme Leader, and its broad mission. It is not just about protecting the Iranian regime from possible internal threats; it is about spreading the reach of the Islamic Republic throughout the Middle East. Temperature Rising explains in a compelling fashion the threat, but also points out the new vulnerabilities the Revolutionary Guard is creating for the Iranian regime. This book reminds us that the Islamic Republic poses a threat but also is not ten feet tall.” (Ambassador Dennis Ross, Washington Institute for Near East Policy)


"Nader Uskowi has written an important and timely book that outlines the true scope of the challenge we face from the Islamic Republic. Today, as the United States grapples anew with Iran's malign influence in the Middle East, Temperature Rising should be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the persistence of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s radical ideology, the extent of the Iranian regime’s regional reach, and the significance of the new web of influence that Tehran is building across the region." (Ilan Berman, senior vice president, American Foreign Policy Council)

[Please note: this is a supplemental post to the Uskowi on Iran site archive.]

IRGC General and Airborne LT Killed in Aleppo

IRGC Brig. Gen. Majid Sanei and 2^nd LT Moslem Nasr were killed in Aleppo in the past 24 hours. Sanei is the third IRGC general officer killed in action during the Aleppo offensives. LT Nasr was deployed with IRGC’s elite 33^rd al-Mahdi Airborne Brigade, which already had another KIA in Aleppo operation last week.

Top photo: IRGC Brig. Gen. Majid Sanei, killed in action in Aleppo on 27 October

Bottom photo: IRGC 2^nd LT Moslem Nasr, killed in action in Aleppo on 27 October

Aleppo Offensives: IRGC Servicemen Killed in Action

Quds Force-led Offensives

Iranian media reported another 3 IRGC servicemen were killed in Syria: Rauf Amjadi, Haidar Nouri Rostami and Jabbar Araghi. No military ranks were given. Social media looking at the Iranian KIA in Syria put the number of known KIAs since the 7 October offensive at 30. (@dudi_cohen) 

Almost all IRGC servicemen killed in the past 2.5 weeks were deployed near Aleppo, where the IRGC-Quds Force is leading a coalition of the Lebanese Hezbollah and Afghan, Pakistani and other foreign Shia militia forces and government troops to isolate and retake parts of the city under the opposition control. The pro-regime forces, under the command of Gen. Soleimani, supported by Russian air power, have launched offensives in the south of the city against the opposition forces, and to the east against ISIL. There are no indications, however, if they could isolate Aleppo anytime soon.

Top photo: IRGC’s Rauf Amjadi killed in action in Syria
Bottom photo: Funeral procession for IRGC’s Haidar Nouri Rostami
Photo credit: Twitter

Two IRGC Servicemen Killed Near Aleppo

Fars News Agency reported today that two IRGC servicemen were killed today south of the Syrian city of Aleppo. The news agency gave the names of the soldiers killed in action as Mostafa Sadrzadeh (pictured below with Gen. Soleimani) and Milad Mostafavi. Fars did not give their ranks.

Yesterday, an IRGC spokesman had confirmed the death of eight servicemen also near Aleppo, but social media reports had put the number of KIA at 15. With two more KIA reported today, the total number of Iranian casualties in Syria in the past 48 hours has now risen to at least 10, and as many as 17, the most in more than four years of conflict.

In the past, a number of senior officers, including general officers of the Quds Force, who were deployed to Syria as advisers, were killed in action. This month the IRGC Ground Force reportedly deployed some 2,000 troops to Syria, with younger and lower-ranked servicemen being killed in action.

An image of Mostafa Sadrzadeh and Gen. Soleimani taken in Syria. The date and exact location unknown. (Mashreghnews)

Russian-Supported Syrian Coalition Advances South of Aleppo

Russian-supported offensive by the Syrian army and its militia backed by the Quds Force and IRGC troops, the Hezbollah and other foreign Shia fighters began on Friday to retake territory around Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, Reuters reported.

The Aleppo campaign is concentrated so far to clear rebel areas south of Aleppo. The city itself, which is home to 2 million people, is divided between government forces and rebels. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the coalition had captured three villages amid fierce fighting. Coalition troops are also attempting to advance to the east of Aleppo towards Kweires military airport to break a siege on the base. (Reuters, 17 October)

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV said the army captured the village of Huwaija on the way to Kweires. The Observatory said intense fighting in Huwaija and several other villages nearby is taking place.

Meanwhile, the pro-government coalition continues countering rebel forces in provinces of Hama, Idlib, Latakia and areas north of Homs City. The Observatory reported heavy Russian bombardment around Homs City. The Observatory said 72 people, including 31 women and children, were killed in the past 48 hours in the assault in Homs.

File photo: The city of Aleppo; 29 July 2015 (George Ourfalian/AFP)

Gen. Hamedani’s Funeral in Tehran

Thousands attended the funeral ceremony in Tehran for Gen. Hossein Hamedani, the most senior IRGC officer in Syria, who was killed on Thursday in northern outskirts of Aleppo. He will be buried in Hamedan, his hometown, on Monday.

For the past four years, the Quds Force has led a coalition of the Lebanese Hezbollah; the Syrian National Defense Force, a pro-government militia force which was set up under the command of Gen. Hamedani; and an assortment of foreign Shia militias, especially Afghans; in support of the Syrian army during the country’s civil war. The Assad’s regime, however, has lost strategic grounds in the past year, especially near the Alawi-dominated Latakia coast, prompting Russia's direct military intervention to stop the opposition advances.

Gen. Hamedani was reportedly killed in an area north of Aleppo where ISIL fighters are increasing their presence. Reports from Tehran say his convoy was ambushed by the insurgents.

Photo credit: The funeral ceremony for Gen. Hossein Hamedani, the commander of Quds Force in Syria, KIA on Thursday; Tehran, 11 October 2015 (AFP/Twitter)

Gen. Hamedani, Senior IRGC Commander in Syria, Is Killed Near Aleppo

Gen. Hossein Hamedani, the most senior IRGC commmander in Syria, was killed in action during the latest offensive against the opposition. Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency said on Friday, “Gen. Hamedani was martyred last night in the northern outskirts of Aleppo.”

Opposition forces in Aleppo have come under heavy bombardment by Russian fighter jets and cruise missiles in recent days while government forces have begun a new offensive to retake the territory around the city lost to the opposition. Gen. Hamedani was probably leading the pro-Assad ground forces when he was killed in action. 

Gen. Hamedani is one of the most senior Iranian military official killed in action in Syria. His loss is a major blow to the IRGC, the Quds Force and the pro-Syrian government coalition.

File photo: Gen. Hossein Hamedani, Commander of Iran’s Quds Force in Syria, KIA in Syria on 8 October 2015 (FNA)

Iran Denies Deployment of Ground Forces to Syria

Contradicting Reports of Hundreds of Troops Being Deployed

A high-ranking Iranian official dismissed as “sheer lie” media reports that Iranian troops have been deployed to Syria, Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported today.

Reuters, citing Lebanese sources, had reported that in the past two weeks hundreds of Iranian troops have moved into Syria to join a major ground offensive in support of Assad’s government. The report said the deployed troops were not advisers but a fighting force, and that they will be followed by more troops in the coming days. 

Note: The Iranian government usually denies deployment of any Iranian forces to Syria. It took them nearly two years to confirm that hundreds of Quds Force advisers were operating in the country. 

Photo: AP

 

Iran’s Quds Force Entangled in Regional Wars – Report

Mission Creep?

The IRGC-Quds Force projects Iranian military power across the Middle East. But it has become entangled in protracted conflicts that are testing its limits, the Christian Science Monitor reports. To read the CSM report, please click here.

File photo: IRGC troops during a parade ceremony in 2008 in Tehran (Vahid Salemi/AP/CSM)

Mastermind Of Khobar Towers Bombing Reportedly Arrested

19 U.S. Servicemen Lost Their Lives in 1996 Attack

The Christian Science Monitor says Ahmad Mughassil, the mastermind of the 1996 Khobar Towers attacks, was reportedly detained in Beirut and handed over to authorities in Saudi Arabia. (Christian Science Monitor, 27 August)

Mughassil has been indicted by a U.S. court as being the architect of the truck bomb attack that devastated the towers at a U.S. military base in Dhahran, killing 19 U.S. servicemen and injuring 372 people in June 1996. It was the deadliest blast against U.S. troops since the 1983 U.S. Marine barracks bombing in Beirut.

Mughassil was the military commander of Saudi Hezbollah, an Iranian Quds Force-backed extremist organization believed to be behind the attack. If confirmed, his arrest and extradition to Saudi Arabia would be a coup for the Saudi government and could be a disaster for Iran and the Quds Force if Mughassil cooperates with the authorities. The FBI had offered $5 million for his capture. Ash Sahrq al-Awsat said Mughassil has been sent to a U.S. military base in Saudi Arabia.

The Associated Press quoted an unidentified Saudi official as saying Mughassil, a Shia from Qatif in eastern Saudi Arabia, was arrested two weeks ago in Beirut after having arrived from Iran. He was attempting to reach the Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut when he was detained, the official told AP.

Matt Levitt, a counter-terrorism and intelligence expert at the Washington Institute, told CSM that Mughassil was living in Beirut prior to the 1996 attack and ran the Khobar operation from there. (Christian Science Monitor, 27 August)

Iran is reportedly the principal backer of Saudi Hezbollah, also known as Hezbollah al-Hijaz, as well as its powerful Lebanese counterpart. A 2001 federal indictment accused Mughassil and 12 other Saudi Hezbollah members of carring out the Khobar bombing. The indictment also provided details of the alleged links between Iran and the Saudi and Lebanese Hezbollah.

Iran has always denied any involvement in the Khobar Towers bombing.

File photo: A Saudi and a U.S. serviceman (r.) walk through the rubble in front of the Khobar Towers housing complex at a U.S. military base in Dhahran. 19 U.S. servicemen were killed when a truck bomb devastated the towers in June 1996. (Greg Marinovich/AP)