U.S. State Department: Iran Continues to Support Terrorism

The U.S. State Department, in its latest report on the state of terrorism worldwide, emphasized that Iran continued to support terrorism across the Middle East in 2014. The report, made public on Friday, June 19, states: "Iran continues to support terrorist groups globally through its main arm, the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, several Shiite militia groups in Iraq, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad." The annual report also notes: "In this year (2014), in response to the advances and attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Iraq, Iran increased its support to Shiite militia groups in Iraq, one of which is on the U.S. terrorist organization list, and also assisted other militia groups in the region." The U.S. State Department further claims: "Iran has attempted to smuggle weapons to Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza." The report also discusses Iran's role and Hezbollah's support for Bashar al-Assad's regime and the civil war in Syria. According to this report, Iran has been on the U.S. State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1984. The report adds: "While Iran has focused all its efforts on achieving its goals in the Middle East, especially Syria, it and its supported groups have continued their efforts to increase influence in regions such as Africa, Asia, and to a lesser extent, Latin America." The U.S. State Department also accused the Quds Force of implementing Iran's foreign policy, providing cover for intelligence operations, and creating instability in the Middle East. Another section of the report states that violent attacks in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Nigeria significantly increased during the years 2013 and 2014. These attacks, most of which were carried out by groups known as "Islamic State" and "Boko Haram," increased by 35% compared to previous years, with casualties doubling and kidnappings tripling from previous years. The Associated Press, based on figures and statistics from the U.S. State Department's annual report on global terrorism, states that in 2014, approximately 33,000 people were killed as a result of 13,500 terrorist attacks worldwide. In contrast, in 2013, the number of attacks was about 10,000, with casualties around 18,000. A comparison of the statistics shows that the number of terrorist attacks increased by 35% and casualties by about 45%. According to the U.S. State Department report, 24 Americans were killed in 2014 due to these attacks, and the number of kidnappings, which was about 3,100 in 2013, increased to 9,400 in 2014. The report reminds that Iraq, Afghanistan, and Nigeria witnessed more terrorist attacks than any other place in the world, with the main reason for the significant increase in casualties being the expansion of extremist group activities in these countries. In 2014, in more than 20 instances of terrorist attacks, the number of casualties exceeded one hundred, whereas in 2013 only two attacks had casualties over one hundred. Two notable cases of high-casualty terrorist attacks include the Taliban's attack on a school in Peshawar, Pakistan in December 2014, which had at least 150 victims, and another attack by the Islamic State group in June on a prison in Mosul, where 670 Shiite prisoners were killed. According to the U.S. State Department report, the Islamic State's attack on the Mosul prison was the deadliest incident since the terrorist attacks on U.S. cities in September 2001. Terrorist attacks in 2014 occurred in 95 countries, but the main focus was in the Middle East, South Asia, and West Africa. Over 60% of all terrorist attacks in 2014 took place in Iraq, Afghanistan, India, and Nigeria. If Syria is added to this group, about 80% of the casualties from terrorist attacks were related to these five countries. The Associated Press, citing the U.S. State Department's annual report, states that the main reason for the significant increase in kidnapping and abduction cases in 2014 was the actions of extremist Islamist groups, including the al-Nusra Front (affiliated with al-Qaeda) and the group known as the Islamic State in Syrian territory. In Nigeria, the extremist Islamist group Boko Haram was responsible for more than 90% of abductions in the country, having kidnapped over 1,300 people, including several hundred schoolgirls, whereas in 2013, the number of people kidnapped by terrorist groups was about one hundred. Statistics related to the activities of terrorist groups and the casualties resulting from them are attached to the U.S. State Department report, which is prepared and published annually under the title "Terrorism Report in Countries of the World" and under the supervision of the U.S. Congress. This annual report is commissioned by the U.S. State Department and prepared by the University of Maryland's Terrorism Studies and Counterterrorism section. The new report, published on Friday, specifically mentions the extensive territorial gains made by the group known as the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq in 2014, the ability to recruit and join foreign fighters to this group, and the pledges of allegiance from jihadist groups in Libya, Egypt, and Nigeria to this self-proclaimed caliphate. The report also reminds that in 2014, the number of attacks by individuals or independent terrorist cells, colloquially known as lone wolves, increased in Western countries, and that terrorist and jihadist groups employed more brutal and savage methods to suppress and intimidate people in areas under their control. The report also notes that regional and international efforts to combat the group known as the Islamic State and other terrorist and jihadist groups are gradually showing their effects.