Reuters: Iran creates new secret cells in Iraq to target US bases

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has established a network of covert cells in Iraq to carry out attacks against Gulf countries hosting U.S. military forces, bypassing traditional militia structures to reduce the risk of detection, according to eight Iraqi sources cited by Reuters.

The sources said the IRGC created three or four small units, each consisting of around 10 elite Iraqi Shi'ite fighters. Between April 20 and May 17, the cells allegedly launched at least seven drone attacks from desert areas near the southern Iraqi cities of Basra and Samawa against targets in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

According to the sources, which include two Iraqi military officials, a security official, and five militia commanders, some members were recruited from the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organisation of hardline Shi'ite factions. However, the newly formed groups reportedly operate outside the umbrella group's command structure and report directly to the IRGC.

The creation of these previously unreported cells signals a shift in Iranian tactics aimed at maintaining Tehran's ability to project power across the region, even as many of its allied armed groups have been weakened and Iran faces mounting military and economic pressures, the militia commanders said.

Iraq, where Shi'ite Muslims constitute the majority of the population, hosts numerous militias with close ties to Tehran. These groups form a key component of Iran's so-called "Axis of Resistance," a network that extends across the Middle East, including Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq.

Since the United States and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, groups operating under the banner of Islamic Resistance in Iraq have claimed responsibility for dozens of drone and rocket attacks targeting U.S. assets in Iraq. Those attacks have prompted retaliatory U.S. airstrikes. However, there has been no large-scale mobilisation of Iran-aligned militias within Iraq.

Several influential Iraqi Shi'ite factions have indicated since last year that they are prepared to disarm and shift their focus toward domestic politics in an effort to avoid a broader confrontation with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Analysts and Iraqi political figures suggest this trend may have prompted the IRGC to establish groups under its direct control.

Earlier this month, two prominent factions — Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Imam Ali Brigades — announced plans to surrender their weapons to Iraqi state authorities following repeated U.S. warnings to Baghdad to dismantle armed groups operating on its territory.

"The newer groups established by the IRGC appear smaller, more ideologically hardened and more tightly controlled, reflecting Iran's need to conserve resources amid economic strain," said Jasim al-Bahadli, a retired Iraqi army general and expert on Shi'ite armed groups.

Bahadli and two lawmakers from Iraq's ruling Shi'ite coalition said the emergence of the new cells underscores Tehran's efforts to preserve influence in Iraq while adapting to a changing regional security landscape.

By Sabina Mammadli