Iran Helped Sunni Terrorists Kill Shiites; Syrian Station Opposed to Al-Qaeda Supports Al-Qaeda
On January 9, 2008, the Treasury Department blacklisted several individuals for their involvement in terrorism. The first is Ahmed Foruzandeh, a Brigadier-General in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Al-Quds Force which leads Iran’s terrorist operations around the world. Foruzandeh’s main focus is Iraq, where his forces have ordered the assassination of Iraqi leaders and the Iraqi Security Forces in addition to Coalition soldiers.
Further debunking the notion that Iran and the Iraqi Shia are part of a brotherly alliance is this:
“As of mid-February 2007, Foruzandeh ordered his Iranian intelligence officers to continue targeting Shia and Sunnis to further sectarian violence within Iraq. Foruzandeh is also responsible for planning training courses in Iran for Iraqi militias, including Sayyid al-Shuhada and Iraqi Hizballah, to increase their ability to combat Coalition Forces. The training includes courses in guerilla warfare, light arms, marksmanship, planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and firing anti-aircraft missiles.
Foruzandeh and his subordinates provide financial and material support for acts of violence against Coalition Forces and Iraqi Security Forces. In early-April 2007, Foruzandeh provided $25,000 USD to help fund military operations against Coalition Forces in Salah Ad Din Province, Iraq. Foruzandeh provided the funds to two men claiming to be members of a Sunni terrorist organization in Iraq, promising the men additional funds if they would deliver videos of attacks against Coalition Forces. Foruzandeh also offered to deliver weapons to the border, if the two men could transport the weapons into Iraq in order to fight Coalition Forces. Previously, in August 2004, Foruzandeh drove explosives and associated materials into Iraq from Iran for use in suicide bombings.
In addition to providing financial and material support for attacks against Coalition Forces, Foruzandeh supplied a certain Shia militia group with a target for execution. On July 25, 2005, Foruzandeh held a meeting with representatives of Iraqi Hizballah and other Shia militia groups, calling upon them to continue liquidating all enemies of the Islamic revolution, including security and intelligence personnel, tribal chiefs, and religious clerics.”
Iran has targeted Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites alike, and supported Iraqi Sunni and Shiite terrorists alike. The confirmation that Iran is supporting Sunni terrorists in Iraq deserved much more attention as it shatters the myth that Shiite and Sunni radicals won’t cooperate; and it’s a myth that continues to pervert intelligence assessments today as the egos of those who championed it prevent any type of revision.
Oh, and as for those public denunciations that prove two extremist groups won’t work together? They don’t mean a thing. Look at what the owner of the “anti-Al-Qaeda” Al-Zawra in Syria was up to:
“Despite being publicly critical of al-Qa’ida in Iraq (AQI), Al-Jaburi is reported to have provided financial support and services to AQI. Al-Jaburi worked with an AQI jihadist umbrella organization, the Mujahadin Shura Council, to fund Sunni extremist operations. Additionally, Al-Jaburi’s television station broadcast recruitment videos for AQI’s Abu Bakr Al-Sadiq Al Salafi Battalion.”