Iran's "Elite" in the news

As a result of the U.S. reports that the Iranian military is meddling in Iraq, western media outlets have begun to shine a spotlight, however cursory, on these forces.

The L.A. Times reported last week, for example on "Iran's elite and mysterious fighters":

BAGHDAD — Among the myriad military and intelligence agencies that make up Iran's security forces, none has the skill and reach of the Quds Force, an elite unit nominally within the command structure of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Although, the article quotes a London terrorism expert as speculating that "It's a remarkably efficient organization, quite possibly one of the best special forces units in the world."

Yet, quoting Kenneth Pollack of the Brookings Institution, Iranian involvement in Iraq is summed up:

"We do have evidence here and there, circumstantial in many ways, that the Quds Force guys and other people in the Revolutionary Guard like to push the edge of the envelope," Pollack said, speculating that the Quds Force could be freelancing in Iraq.

The Guardian, surprisingly, is more direct: "Elite Iranian Corps Enmeshed in Iraq"

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Iran's secretive Quds Force, accused by the United States of arming Iraqi militants with deadly bomb-making material, has built up an extensive network in the war-torn country, recruiting Iraqis and supporting not only Shiite militias but also Shiites allied with Washington.

Still unclear, however, is how closely Iran's top leadership is directing the Quds Force's operations - and whether Iran has intended for its help to Shiite militias to be turned against U.S. forces.

The Guardian continues, outlining Iranian support for terrorist groups throughout the region:

The Quds (pronounced ``KOHds'') Force - the name means ``Jerusalem'' in Farsi and Arabic - is the most elite and covert of Iran's military branches. Over the past two decades, the corps is believed to have helped arm and train the Hezbollah guerrilla group in Lebanon, Islamic fighters in Bosnia and Afghanistan, and even Sudanese troops fighting in south Sudan.

Although Iranian involvement in Iraq is being hotly debated - even in the U.S. - the article seems matter-of-fact regarding Iranian support of Iraqi insurgents and sectarian violence.

But the Quds Force's help appears to go beyond militiamen attacking U.S. troops. It supplies training and some weapons to the Badr Brigade - a militia linked to Iraq's biggest Shiite political party - and smaller Shiite factions in the south, an official with a Shiite political party in Iraq who has close knowledge of militia activity told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity.

In addition to supplying weapons to Iraqi militias, the Quds Force has been recruiting Iraqi Shiites, giving them up to $150 a month and sending some to Iran for training, the Shiite political party official told the AP.

Yet inexplicably, despite training militias and providing moral support:

Abedin [a London-based Terrorism Expert] doubted the Quds Force was directly giving militias weapons, arguing that militias have their own domestic networks for building and obtaining weapons. But he said Quds was undoubtedly was providing intelligence and other organizational help. ``It would be very incriminating and dangerous for Iran to directly supply weapons to the militias, and it's not a part of Iranian policy to directly confront the Americans,'' he said.

As "dangerous" as it might be for Iran to supply weapons, concrete proof already exists [Iraqi insurgents using Austrian rifles from Iran]. Meanwhile, within Iran's own borders:

Iran shuts down website critical of president

An Iranian website fiercely critical of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been shut down in an apparent fresh crackdown on anti-government dissent on the internet.

These latest actions to curtail free speech in Iran could also be related to the recent spate of bombings in the country. It's important to remember that Ahmadinejad does not act with impunity. Within his own country, he has a host of adversaries to overcome - both more moderate and more extreme.