On January 3, 2020, shortly after the targeted killing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force’s (IRGC-QF) top official, Qassem Soleimani, the U.S. Department of State designated Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO)| The Soufan Center
By all accounts, it was U.S. forces that carried out a strike on January 2 that killed the top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF) Qasem Soleimani, who has over the past two decades built up Iran’s wide network of allies and proxies that Tehran uses to project power and defend its allies| The Soufan Center
The January 3, 2020 U.S. strike that killed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qasem Soleimani and Abdul Mahdi Al Muhandis, the head of the main Iraqi surrogate for Iran, the Kata’ib Hezbollah (KAH) militia, was a major blow to Iran’s militia infrastructure in Iraq| The Soufan Center
A United States-Iran proxy conflict inside Iraq appears to be escalating, approaching levels last seen in 2019 during the height of the implementation of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran| The Soufan Center
The September 14, 2019 strikes on critical Saudi energy infrastructure at Khurais and Abqaiq prompted a major U.S. and regional reassessment of Iran’s military technology capabilities| The Soufan Center
