Iranian Force Has Long Ties to Al Qaeda; Terrorism Support Group Operates Independently

The Iranian Student Movement Up to the Minute Reports ^ | 10-13-03 | Dana Priest and Douglas Farah

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Iranian Force Has Long Ties to Al Qaeda; Terrorism Support Group Operates Independently of Iran's Elected Leaders

By Dana Priest and Douglas Farah Washington Post Staff Writers Tuesday, October 14, 2003; Page A17

The elite Iranian force believed to be protecting Saad bin Laden and two dozen al Qaeda leaders is one of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' five branches, and has been given the mission of "exporting the Islamic revolution" by training, arming and collaborating with foreign terrorist groups -- even those who do not share Iran's fundamentalist Shiite brand of Islam.

The Jerusalem Force, also known as the Qods Force, is highly trained and well-funded. It has provided instruction to more than three dozen Shiite and Sunni "foreign Islamic militant groups in paramilitary, guerrilla and terrorism" tactics, according to a recent U.S. intelligence analysis.

Groups including Hezbollah, or Party of God; the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas); and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have received arms and training at one of several specialized sites in Iran, according to that document.

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"The elite Iranian force believed to be protecting Saad bin Laden and two dozen al Qaeda leaders is one of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' five branches,...The Jerusalem Force, also known as the Qods Force..."

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"Revolutionary Guard, which answer to the office of the supreme religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei."
"Their mission is to form relationships with Islamic militant and radical groups and offer financial support either to the groups at large or to Islamic figures within them who are sympathetic to the principles and foreign policy goals of the Iranian government."