Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has established secret operational cells inside Iraq to conduct drone attacks against Gulf states hosting American forces, according to eight Iraqi military, security and militia sources cited by Reuters. Three or four cells, each composed of roughly ten elite Iraqi Shiite fighters, launched at least seven strikes from desert positions near Basra and Samawa between 20 April and 17 May, targeting sites in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The units, drawn partly from the Iran-linked Islamic Resistance in Iraq umbrella group, operate outside that network’s command structure and report directly to the IRGC, the sources said.

Viewed from Tehran, the new cells represent a tactical adaptation. Five Iraqi militia commanders told Reuters that the IRGC is seeking to preserve its ability to project force across the region at a moment when its traditional proxy groups are significantly weakened and Iran’s own military and economic resources are depleted. The smaller, more tightly controlled units reflect, in the words of retired Iraqi army general Jasim al-Bahadli, “Iran’s need to conserve resources amid economic strain.” Iranian officials have separately signalled that Tehran’s support for “resistance groups” is not subject to negotiation, and the interim US-Iran agreement signed on Wednesday to end the war does not address the issue of paramilitary proxies.

In Baghdad, the development complicates a delicate political moment. Several powerful Shiite factions, including Asaib Ahl al-Haq and the Imam Ali Brigades, announced this month that they would begin surrendering weapons to state authorities, following repeated US warnings to dismantle armed groups operating on Iraqi soil. Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, and US envoy Tom Barrack discussed plans on Monday for “the complete disarmament and disbandment of all armed groups” outside state control, according to a joint statement. Yet the IRGC’s direct recruitment of Iraqi fighters bypasses those very structures, creating cells that Iraqi security officials say are harder to detect and interdict.

Gulf capitals have responded with military and diplomatic measures. Saudi air defence systems intercepted and destroyed three drones that penetrated its territory from Iraqi airspace, and Riyadh lodged a formal protest with Baghdad in April over the use of Iraqi territory as a launch platform. Kuwait and the UAE have similarly stated their readiness to counter Iranian-orchestrated attacks. Iraq, meanwhile, is moving to rebuild its own air defence architecture, with plans to acquire eight Cheongung-2 missile batteries from South Korea and anti-drone systems from Turkey. The US State Department reiterated its expectation that Iraq take “immediate measures to dismantle all the tools of Iran’s destabilising activities.” With the US-Iran nuclear and security negotiations continuing but proxy networks explicitly excluded from the agenda, the dossier remains open and the next concrete step is expected to be the implementation—or testing—of Baghdad’s disarmament pledges.