Reuters, citing sources: The Revolutionary Guard has formed cells in southern Iraq to attack Gulf states.
Reuters, citing sources: The Revolutionary Guard has formed cells in southern Iraq to attack Gulf states.
2026-06-19
Shafaq News – Follow-up
Reuters quoted eight Iraqi sources on Friday as saying that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has formed new secret cells in Iraq to carry out attacks on Gulf states hosting US forces, bypassing existing armed group networks to avoid detection.
According to the agency, citing those sources, three or four cells, each consisting of about 10 elite fighters, launched at least seven drone attacks from desert locations near the southern cities of Basra and Samawah, targeting sites in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE between April 20 and May 17.
A number of members of these cells belong to the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq,” an alliance of Shiite factions, but these new groups operate outside their traditional command structure and report directly to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, according to sources including two Iraqi military officials, a security official, and five leaders of local armed groups.
A shift in Iranian tactics
The five leaders of the armed groups said that the formation of the new cells in Iraq – something that has not been previously disclosed to the media – reflects a shift in the methods of the Revolutionary Guard, with the aim of maintaining Iran’s ability to extend its influence in the region, at a time when the military and economic resources of the groups loyal to it are being greatly depleted.
These developments come at a time when influential Shiite factions have shown since last year their willingness to give up their weapons and focus on political action to avoid escalating the conflict with the administration of US President Donald Trump.
In this regard, retired Iraqi army general Jassim al-Bahadli and two members of the ruling coalition believe that this trend may have prompted Tehran to create groups under its direct control.
In the context of this shift, two prominent factions, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib al-Imam Ali, announced this month that they would begin handing over their weapons to state authorities, following repeated US warnings to the Iraqi government about the need to disband armed groups operating outside the law.
Al-Bahadli, an expert on armed groups, explained that the newer groups established by the Revolutionary Guard appear to be smaller, more ideologically rigid, and more subject to direct control, thus ensuring Iran’s ability to deny and deflect official responsibility and reduce American pressure on Baghdad.
Baghdad’s position and the US-Iranian agreement
On the diplomatic front, the American and Iranian presidents signed a temporary agreement last Wednesday to end the war, with subsequent negotiations to be held on thorny issues such as the nuclear program. However, Iranian officials confirmed that Tehran’s support for “resistance groups” is not up for discussion and is not addressed in the current agreement.
In contrast, the US State Department reiterated its expectation that the Iraqi government would take immediate steps to dismantle all instruments of destabilizing activities. These attacks represent an early test for Iraq’s new Prime Minister, Ali al-Zaidi, who assumed office last month, as Baghdad treads a delicate path between Washington and Tehran.
During his meeting last Monday with US envoy Tom Barrack, Al-Zaidi discussed Baghdad’s plans to ensure the complete disarmament and dismantling of armed groups operating outside the authority of the state, and to ensure that Iraqi territory is not used to threaten regional peace.
Details of the attacks and targets carried out
According to Iraqi military and security sources, these newly formed cells carried out at least three drone attacks against Kuwait, two attacks against Saudi Arabia, and two more attacks against the United Arab Emirates during the conflict.
The sources indicated that the targets included the Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait and a military building at Kuwait International Airport, while attacks directed towards Saudi Arabia and the UAE were thwarted.
Iraqi authorities are currently investigating whether these strikes include a drone attack that occurred on May 17 and caused a small fire outside the Barakah nuclear power plant in the UAE, coinciding with Riyadh’s announcement that it had intercepted three drones coming from Iraqi airspace on the same day.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi condemned the attacks, describing them as “criminal acts,” and pledged to conduct a joint investigation with the two Gulf states to determine their point of origin.
Sabah al-Nu’man, spokesman for the Iraqi Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief, declined to comment on the report, and officials in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
shafaq.com
