New reports from the State Department and Treasury Department highlight Tehran's continuing major role in backing terrorism. State's new report on global terror in 2009 points to Iran's continuing support for organizations like Hamas and Hizballah and its backing for jihadists targeting Iraq and Afghanistan, where hundreds of thousands of American troops have been based.
In 2009, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF), an elite security force servicing the Iranian regime, "provided training to the Taliban in Afghanistan on small unit tactics, small arms, explosives and indirect fire weapons. Since at least 2006, Iran has arranged arms shipments to select Taliban members, including small arms and associated ammunition, rocket propelled grenades, mortar rounds, 107 mm rockets, and plastic explosives."
And according to the State Department, during 2009, "Iranian authorities continued to provide lethal support, including weapons, training, funding and guidance, to Iraqi Shia militant groups that targeted U.S. and Iraqi forces."
Moreover: "The Qods Force continued to supply Iraqi militants with Iranian-produced advanced rockets, sniper rifles, automatic weapons, and mortars that have killed Iraqi and Coalition Forces, as well as civilians. Iran was responsible for the increased lethality of some attacks on U.S. forces by providing militants with the capability to assemble explosively formed penetrators that were designed to defeat armored vehicles."
Meanwhile, Treasury has announced more designations targeting Iran's support of terrorist groups, including Hizballah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command and the Taliban.
The designations "expose Iran's use of its state apparatus – including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps - Qods Force and state-run social service organizations to support terrorism under the guise of providing reconstruction and economic development assistance or social services," the Treasury Department stated.
The sanctions focus on the IRGC-QF by designating four of its senior officers for their roles in facilitating terror:
*Hushang Allahdad, an IRGC-QF financial officer since at least 2002, "personally oversees distribution of funds to Levant-based terrorist groups and provides financial support for designated financial entities including Hizballah, Hamas and PIJ."
*General Hossein Musavi, commander of the IRGC-QF Ansar Corps, oversees the group's activities in Afghanistan. "As Ansar Corps Commander, Musavi has provided financial and material support to the Taliban," Treasury said.
*Col. Hasan Mortezavi, an IRGC senior officer, "provides financial and material support to the Taliban."
*Mohammad Reza Zahedi, commander of the IRGC-QF in Lebanon, has "acted as a liaison to Hizballah and Syrian intelligence services" and is reportedly "charged with guaranteeing weapons shipments to Hizballah."
An organizations hit with sanctions by the Treasury Department include the Iranian Committee for the Reconstruction of Lebanon (ICRL). While the ICRL's stated mission is supporting Lebanon's reconstruction, the group "has financed and facilitated Hizballah's infrastructure and private communications network that enables the terrorist group to communicate securely."
The ICRL's director, Hessam Khoshnevis, was also designated for his role in supporting terrorism. Khoshevis "also operates as President Ahmadinejad's personal representative in Lebanon."
The Imam Khomeini Relief Committee's Lebanon branch, a Hizballah social service organization, was also designated for its role in terrorism.