TEHRAN, Iran, June 19 (World Daily Times) — Iraqi sources cited by Reuters say Iran’s Revolutionary Guards created secretive cells in southern Iraq to launch drone attacks on Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, a move that shows how regional conflict can be pushed through local proxies while keeping blame at arm’s length.
The sources said the cells were built to bypass established militia networks and avoid detection. They described three or four groups, each with about 10 elite Iraqi Shi’ite fighters, operating outside the command structure of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq even though some recruits came from that umbrella network.
Three Iraqi security sources told Reuters the cells carried out at least seven drone attacks between April 20 and May 17 from desert areas near Basra and Samawa. The sources said investigators relied on human intelligence, intercepted communications and evidence gathered at launch sites to connect the attacks to those locations.
If accurate, the account suggests a more fragmented and deniable phase of Iran-linked militancy in Iraq. Instead of relying on the better-known militia chains that have long drawn U.S. scrutiny, the report says the IRGC used smaller, compartmentalized teams that could strike Gulf neighbors hosting American forces while making attribution harder.
Iraqi officials cited in the report said that structure served a practical purpose: plausible deniability. By pushing operations into separate cells, the IRGC could shift suspicion away from the main Iran-backed groups and reduce pressure on Baghdad to disarm them.
The allegations have not been tested in court, and the supplied material does not identify arrests, charges or a public case file. But the report matters because it points to a security threat that reaches beyond Iraq: attacks launched from Iraqi territory can affect Gulf states, U.S. deployments and Baghdad’s already difficult balance between Tehran and Washington.
