Are Iranian Forces Being 'Stretched' Because Of Their Involvement In Multiple Conflicts

Scott Peterson, CSM: Iran's elite military is entangled in regional wars. Mission creep?

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps projects Iranian military power across the Middle East, to the alarm of critics of the nuclear deal. But it has become entangled in protracted conflicts that are testing its limits.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY — President Obama appears to have the votes to ensure congressional approval of the landmark nuclear deal with Iran, a key plank of which is an easing of economic sanctions. And one of the beneficiaries will be Iran’s primary tool for projecting power – the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and especially its elite Qods Force, which handles operations abroad.

But are Iran’s wizened generals, who mostly cut their military teeth in the 1980s as teenage volunteers during the brutal Iran-Iraq War, already in danger of overreach?

For decades, American military planners aimed to be capable of simultaneously fighting – and winning – two full-blown wars in different regions. It was a challenge, even for a superpower. Today, on a much smaller scale and with a sliver of the military means, Iran is attempting the same thing in the Middle East: It is deeply engaged in Syria and Iraq; waving the flag in Yemen; and very influential in Lebanon.

WNU Editor: I do not think the Iranian leadership cares if their forces or the economy are being stretched .... their focus is on winning in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen while supporting Hamas and Hezbollah  ... and they will do what it takes to succeed.