Quds Force

The Quds Force (Persian: نیروی قدس, romanized: niru-ye qods, lit. 'Jerusalem Force') is one of five branches of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). It specializes in unconventional warfare and military intelligence operations. The U.S. Army's General Stanley McChrystal describes the Quds Force as an organization analogous to a combination of the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the United States. Responsible for extraterritorial operations, the Quds Force supports non-state actors in many countries, including Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Houthis, and Shia militias in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan.

The Quds Force reports directly to the supreme leader of Iran, most recently held by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei until his assassination in 2026. After Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike, his deputy, Esmail Qaani, replaced him. The U.S. Secretary of State designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Quds Force as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in 2019 based on the IRGC's "continued support to and engagement in terrorist activity around the world." This was the first time that the U.S. ever designated another government's department as a FTO.