...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....has created a new naval militia made up of mercenaries from around the region to attack enemies in its neighborhood and particularly off Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
, the exiled opposition alleges.
The National Council of Resistance® of Iran (NCRI) says the unit had been created as part of the Quds Force, the arm of the Revolutionary Guards responsible for extra-territorial operations.
"The Quds Force has been recruiting mercenaries for newly created, armed and trained terrorist units to attack ships and maritime targets in the region," it says in a report based on information received from Iran.
The NCRI, which is outlawed in Iran and is the political wing of the People’s Mujahedin, says the mercenaries are being hired from Iraq,
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ...
, Syria, Yemen and Africa.
The fighters are brought to Iran for training and then sent back to their home countries to conduct the operations, it says.
"The strategy affords the politically weakened and vulnerable Iranian regime a veneer of plausible deniability for its proxy war in the region, as it seeks to augment the export of terrorism on which it depends," the group adds.
The aim is to "disrupt maritime navigation of fat merchantmen, to attack ports, conduct ship hijackings and plant mines."
It is not immediately possible to verify the claims.