Qassim Soleimani Force: Iran launches its foreign legion

A Yemeni drone specialist killed in a US airstrike near Baghdad last week, according to American and Iraqi defense officials as reported by the Washington Post. This incident underscores the extensive cooperation among militant groups supported by Tehran. The July 30 airstrike in Musayyib, a town south of Iraq’s capital, targeted militants from Shia terrorist group Kataib Hezbollah preparing to attack US forces. Among the dead was also Hussein Abdullah Mastoor al-Shabal, a Houthi commander, along with four members of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, a faction within the network of Iran-backed terrorist groups under Iraqi government oversight.

The exact nature of Hussein Abdullah Mastoor al-Shabal’s involvement remains unclear. Some security sources suggest he was part of a new central force being assembled by Iran, with several Houthis who had moved from Yemen already stationed in Iraq, which serves as a final destination following training in Iran.

Other sources indicate that Hussein Mastoor was responsible for overseeing groups that the militia regularly dispatched for specialized military training. This training was conducted in collaboration with members of the Hezbollah Brigades and supervised by Iranian experts at fortified camps in Jurf al-Sakhar, north of Babil Governorate, south of Baghdad.

Citing senior Yemeni sources, UAE based Al-Ain News has suggested that Mastoor may have been a part of a new force, a kind of an Iranian Légion étrangère, being formed by Tehran bringing together all fighters from the “Axis of Resistance” (Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria etc.). “The elements of that unified central force, named the Qassem Soleimani Forces, which Tehran is working to form, resemble a structure similar to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.” sources told Al-Ain news.

Experts considered that this force is “like a central military arm for what is called the resistance axis led by Iran, in an attempt by Tehran to protect its presence and influence in the region, and to be able to withstand more pressure.”

In the first phase the force is said to be composed of 10,000 fighters, two thousand of whom are from the Yemeni Houthi militia, and the number is likely to increase and expand in later stages. The Lebanese Hezbollah is responsible for administration and organization to build this new Iranian force.

The Houthis have already transferred 1300 of its most loyal and dedicated extremist troops who have been trained at centers around its stronghold at Saada and 700 are still waiting for departure. Fighters are smuggled to Somalia and Sudan via sea and then reach Iran from Sudan via different routes. Some groups were apparently transferred via air using passports obtained from the East. A specialized security unit of Iran and Hezbollah is coordinating these logistics. 

This new Soleimani force, a foreign legion, allows Iran to act through a ghost army of foreign fighters who do not have any national affiliation. It is important to note that sources haven’t named Sunni organizations which may be involved in this new venture, especially Hamas. If this is the case it may also be an indication of Hamas starting to outlive its use for the Shia regime in Tehran.

Such a specialized multinational extremist terrorist force outside of state control creates a great security risk for the Middle East and world at large.