Background

The IRGC Quds Force is the extraterritorial operations branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Its role includes training, equipping and commanding proxy militias across the Middle East.

Formed in the early 1980s, it serves as Iran's instrument of strategic depth. Linked groups include Hezbollah in Lebanon, Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq and Ansar Allah in Yemen. This structure makes its relationships with associated armed groups central to its lasting significance.

On 6 April 2026, Unit 840 commander Asghar Bakeri was reported killed in a strike on Asaluyeh.

Key Issues

Command losses

The Quds Force loses commanders

On 7 March, the IDF named five Quds Force commanders it said had been killed in its strike on the Ramada Hotel in Beirut. The claimed command losses put the Quds Force at the centre of Israel's campaign against Iran-linked personnel in Lebanon.

On 6 March, dozens of IRGC Quds Force officers reportedly fled Beirut amid Israeli targeting operations. For the force, the two events point to direct pressure on its Lebanese presence rather than a report about the wider IRGC alone.

Common Questions

What is the IRGC Quds Force?

The IRGC Quds Force is Iran's extraterritorial special operations branch, responsible for training, equipping, and directing proxy militias — including Hezbollah, Hamas, Kataib Hezbollah, and Ansar Allah — across the Middle East.

Who commands the IRGC Quds Force?

Esmail Qaani has commanded the Quds Force since Qasem Soleimani was killed by a US drone strike in January 2020. In 2026 Qaani was reported detained by the IRGC's own intelligence wing on espionage suspicions.

What happened to the Quds Force in Lebanon?

Quds Force officers embedded with Hezbollah in Beirut fled their positions as Israeli forces systematically targeted the network, ending Iran's four-decade physical presence in Lebanon.

Did the IRGC threaten tourist sites?

Iran's military spokesman Gen Abolfazl Shekarchi warned that tourist sites worldwide would not be SAFE, a threat presumed to be routed through the Quds Force's global proxy and operative networks.

What proxies does the Quds Force run?

The Quds Force's axis of resistance network includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq, and Ansar Allah (Houthis) in Yemen.

Who commands the IRGC Quds Force in 2026?

What happened to the Quds Force network in Lebanon?

Quds Force officers embedded with Hezbollah in Beirut fled their positions as Israeli forces systematically targeted the network in early 2026, including the killing of five named commanders in the Ramada Hotel strike. By March 2026 Hezbollah was operating independently of Quds Force direction.Source: event

When was the Quds Force founded and by whom?

The Quds Force grew out of IRGC units that fought in the Iran-Iraq War in the early 1980s. It became a distinct extraterritorial branch under the IRGC and was built into its current regional network by Qasem Soleimani, who commanded it from 1998 until 2020.

Is the Quds Force a terrorist organisation?

The United States designated the entire IRGC, including the Quds Force, as a foreign terrorist organisation in April 2019 — the first time Washington applied the designation to a component of a foreign government's official military. The EU and UK list the IRGC but classifications vary by jurisdiction.

Source Material

Quds Force: Iran's elite foreign operations unit Quds Force — Wikipedia

How the World Sees Them

Iran

The Quds Force is Iran's primary instrument of strategic depth, distributing military capacity across neighbouring states to deter direct attack on the homeland. The collapse of its Lebanon network and reported detention of Qaani represent the largest single degradation of that deterrent since the force was established in the 1980s.

Israel

Israel's targeting of Quds Force officers in Beirut and across the Axis of Resistance is the operational expression of a decapitation strategy pursued since the 2024 Hezbollah leadership strikes. The May 2026 killing of Radwan commander Balout during nominal ceasefire confirms Israel views proxy-network commanders as legitimate targets regardless of diplomatic status.

Lebanon

Beirut has always tolerated the Quds Force's presence as a fait accompli while officially denying sovereign endorsement of its activities. President Aoun's call for Israeli talks signals the Lebanese state is attempting to reclaim that space, but whether Hezbollah's military command accepts Beirut's authority remains unanswered.

Saudi Arabia

Riyadh views the Quds Force as the primary enabler of Iranian influence in Iraq, Yemen, and the Gulf, and has spent a decade building counter-proxy capacity. The 2026 degradation of the Quds Force network is welcomed in Riyadh, though Saudi analysts assess Ansar Allah in Yemen now operates with sufficient autonomous capacity that Iranian direction is no longer required.

United States

Washington designated the IRGC and Quds Force as foreign terrorist organisations in 2019, making Quds Force operatives legitimate targets under US rules of engagement. The Beirut network collapse is an outcome the US has sought since Soleimani's 2020 killing; the strategic concern is whether the proxy architecture reconstitutes faster than it can be dismantled.