Quds Force

Quds Force سپاه قدس

Active	1980–present
Country	Iran
Branch	Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution
Type	Special operations force
Role	Special operations
Size	Classified (estimate: 15,000)
Engagements	Iran–Iraq War 1982 Lebanon War Bosnian War South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) Battle for Herat Balochistan conflict Iran–PJAK conflict Syrian Civil War 2014 Northern Iraq offensive War on ISIS Siege of Amirli Liberation of Jurf Al Sakhar Battle of Baiji Liberation of Tikrit
Commanders
Commander	Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani

The Quds Force is a special forces unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards responsible for their extraterritorial operations. The Quds Force reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ali Khamenei. Its commander is Major General Qasem Soleimani and his deputy was Hossein Hamadani. While "little is reliably known" about the force, as of 2007, its size was estimated at 15,000 troops. The United States has designated the Quds Force a supporter of terrorism since 2007.

The Quds Force was created during the Iran-Iraq war as a special unit from the broader IRGC forces. Both during and after the war, it provided support to the Kurds fighting Saddam Hussein. In 1982, a Quds unit was deployed to Lebanon, where it assisted in the genesis of Hezbollah. The Force also expanded its operations into neighboring Afghanistan, most notably aiding Abdul Ali Mazari's Shi'a Hezbe Wahdat in the 1980s against the government of Mohammad Najibullah. It then began funding and supporting Ahmad Shah Massoud's Northern Alliance against the Taliban. However, in recent years, the Quds Force is believed to have been helping and guiding the Taliban insurgents against the NATO-backed Karzai administration. There were also reports of the unit lending support to Bosnian Muslims fighting the Bosnian Serbs during the Yugoslav wars.