Temperature Rising: Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Wars in the Middle East

by Nader Uskowi

Overview

Iran is a country at war – in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. The founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khomeini, always told audiences that the revolution was not about Iran, but the whole region. To establish an arc of Shia influence across the Middle East, the Islamic Republic created the Quds Force, the extraterritorial branch of its Revolutionary Guards. Hundreds of thousands of Shia youths were recruited, trained, armed, and organized in militia groups across the region. The book tells the story of how the Quds Force and its Shia militias fought on the three fronts to advance the Islamic Republic’s militant interpretation of Shia Islam and create a contiguous land corridor linking Iran through Iraq to Syria, Lebanon, and the Israeli northern fronts. The Iran-led operations are creating enormous political and security challenges for the Sunni Arabs and all regional powers, creating further instabilities in an already turbulent Middle East, with specters of direct military conflicts looming, pitting Iran against the Arab states and Israel.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538121740
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/09/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	226
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Nader Uskowi is a subject matter expert on the Islamic Republic of Iran and its military strategy. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council. He has served as the Senior Policy Advisor to United States Central Command, the branch of the U.S. military whose area of responsibility includes Iran and the Middle East, focusing on geopolitical and military developments across the region. Uskowi has recently testified before Congress, and published articles, appeared on Radio and TV news programs, and presented papers to seminars and symposiums on Iran. He lives with his wife, Patti, in Reston, VA.

Table of Contents

List of Figures ix

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction: The Revolution Is Not About Iran-It's About the Whole Region xiii

1 Iran at War: The Push for Primacy in the Middle East 1

2 The Shia Liberation Army 17

3 The Years of Revolution and War 33

4 Gateways to Afghanistan and Iraq 49

5 Uprisings, Civil Wars, and Insurgencies 63

6 Land Corridor to Syria 77

7 The Iraqi Campaign 97

8 Sanaa Calling 115

9 Unfinished Business in Afghanistan 129

10 Resourcing the Quds Force Regional Campaigns: Military and Financial Support Network 139

11 Long Road, Uncertain Future 161

Conclusion 177

Notes 183

Selected Bibliography 195

Index 199

About the Author 207

Editorial Reviews

Temperature Rising takes its place among the few “must read” publications on contemporary Iran. It describes concisely and precisely how over the past 40 years the IRGC has labored to fulfill Ayatollah Khomeini’s pledge to export the Islamic revolution, thereby making Iran the primary danger to the region’s moderate Arab states, to Israel and to the United States.”

Near East Report

This insightful monograph examines the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, founded in 1979 to defend the country’s Islamic Revolution.

Foreign Affairs

In this study, Nader Uskowi provides a detailed analysis of the Quds Force and its parent organization, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Uskowi shows how, through the Office of the Supreme Leader, the IRGC controls mega-foundations and over 500 enterprises, which it uses to fund operations across the region.

Middle East Journal

Temperature Rising remains a must-read for anyone who wants to gain some understanding of the IRGC, what it has done throughout the Middle East and what its goals are.

Fathom

Temperature Rising is a riveting account of Iran’s way of war in the Middle East by a seasoned observer of the country’s regional strategy and military policy. Uskowi’s book is a powerful must-read for anyone interested in the region.

General James Jones

"Nader Uskowi has written an important and timely book that outlines the true scope of the challenge we face from the Islamic Republic. Today, as the United States grapples anew with Iran's malign influence in the Middle East, Temperature Rising should be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the persistence of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s radical ideology, the extent of the Iranian regime’s regional reach, and the significance of the new web of influence that Tehran is building across the region."

Ilan Berman

If you want to understand Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and its action arm, the Oods Forces, Temperature Rising is the book you must read. Dr. Nader Uskowi takes you inside the organization, its funding, its relationship to the Supreme Leader, and its broad mission. It is not just about protecting the Iranian regime from possible internal threats; it is about spreading the reach of the Islamic Republic throughout the Middle East. Temperature Rising explains in a compelling fashion the threat, but also points out the new vulnerabilities the Revolutionary Guard is creating for the Iranian regime. This book reminds us that the Islamic Republic poses a threat but also is not ten feet tall.

Ambassador Dennis Ross

Temperature Rising remains a must-read for anyone who wants to gain some understanding of the IRGC, what it has done throughout the Middle East and what its goals are.

Fathom