By Anas al-Bar | 2023-10-24

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has reportedly formed a joint operations room with the Islamic Republic’s regional proxies and representatives of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

The operations room is said to be engaged in reconnaissance missions to gather data from the field, and in the preparation of plans to manage the movements and activities of armed groups loyal to the Iranian regime in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.

The Iranian regime is not strong enough to engage in a direct regional battle over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, analysts told Pishtaz affiliate outlet Al-Fassel.

But it may get involved via its well known strategy of "intervention by proxy," whereby it thrusts its affiliates into the conflict on its behalf and stirs up tensions and unrest, they said.

There is some speculation that the Islamic Republic itself may be spreading the word about the new operations room, however, as a means to threaten its adversaries and make itself appear stronger.

Attacks by Islamic Republic proxies

In several statements issued by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian -- including on October 16 – the Islamic Republic hinted that its proxies, which it supports with weapons and funds, are ready to carry out "preemptive action."

Iranian regime-aligned militias have staged attacks in several countries of the region since October 7, when Hamas carried out a terrorist attack on Israel from Gaza.

A US Navy ship in the Red Sea on Thursday (October 19) shot down missiles and drones that had been fired by the Iranian regime-backed Houthis in Yemen, AFP reported.

The destroyer intercepted three "land-attack cruise missiles and several drones," Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said, adding that the attack was "launched by Houthi forces in Yemen" potentially toward targets in Israel.

American and allied forces fighting ISIS in Syria also were targeted Monday in an attack that did not cause casualties, a US official said, after a militant group claimed to have launched drones at Washington's troops.

The US official did not provide specifics on the attack, but a group calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said earlier in the day that it had launched drones against American forces at al-Tanf and al-Malikiyah in Syria.

The same group also claimed to have targeted US troops in Iraq on Saturday -- an attack the United States said it could not confirm -- while American forces shot down two drones in the country last week.

The Iranian regime seeks to hide its hand

"Iran seeks to use the groups and militias loyal to it in Iraq and the region as 'pressure cards' without it being directly at the forefront," political researcher Abdul Qader al-Nayel told Al-Fassel.

This is the role that the Islamic Republic customarily plays to avoid "having conflicts spill over to its territory and harm its security," he said. "At the end of the day, it does not like to take risks and wants to incur zero cost for its destructive external activities."

The Iranian regime is now trying "to exploit the new conflict (in Gaza) to achieve gains that are in its own interest and to benefit as much as possible from any repercussions that the region may witness," al-Nayel said.

It never thinks about "waging a direct war" because of the losses it would incur, he said.

While it tries to shield itself from reprisals, the Iranian regime shows little regard for the lives of civilians or the serious consequences that its "tools" could inflict on the countries in whose affairs they interfere, al-Nayel said.

He pointed out that these countries are suffering from economic deterioration and fragile conditions already because of the Islamic Republic's regional interference.

"Iraq does not stand far from the heart of the storm, and Tehran is trying to drag it into it and influence the political and security decision-making process, to inundate the country with challenges and problems," he said.

Coordination among Iranian regime proxies

IRGC Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani and IRGC officers established the new operations room to coordinate with all of the Islamic Republic's proxies, including Lebanese Hizbullah, various Iraqi militias and other proxies in Syria, al-Nayel said.

The idea is that the operations room will serve as a "bulwark and operate on several fronts, especially the Lebanese front, if the situation turns to the use of force against Iran," he explained.

In recent days, a stream of videos and photos of leaders of Iranian regime-aligned Iraqi militias taken at Lebanon's southern border has been posted on social media.

Sayyed al-Shuhada Brigades leader Abu Alaa al-Walai and Harakat al-Nujaba leader Akram al-Kaabi are among the "first line of Iraqi militia leaders" who have reportedly joined the operations room in southern Lebanon.

According to social media sources, the IRGC has started urging all its regional militias to enlist new elements willing to go to the Lebanese front, with promises of high pay.

Militia leaders traveled to Syria and Lebanon accompanied by armed men whose mission does not appear to involve combat but rather reconnaissance and coordination with other militias at border sites, Asharq Al-Awsat reported.

But analysts do not rule out that these militia movements and the accompanying publicity on social media could be Iranian regime "propaganda messages."

On October 8, the day after Hamas launched its attack on Israel, the Persian-language Radio Farda outlet quoted two sources close to the pro-Islamic Republic militias as saying that a meeting had been held in Baghdad that same day.

Iranian regime officials and the heads of some of the Iran-backed Iraqi militias were reportedly in attendance at the meeting, where Iranian officials called for "intensifying media propaganda in Iraq against Israel and in support of Hamas."

They also called for "the establishment of a volunteer registration center" but stressed that no action be taken "until the order is given."