Iraqis pray at the shrine of the Imam Hussein, next to a plaque that frames the bullet holes where Saddam Hussein's forces killed Shi'ite opposition during an uprising in 1991, in the holy city of Kerbala, Iraq February 5, 2020. REUTERS/John Davison
KERBALA, Iraq (Reuters) - In September, a senior Iranian commander made an unannounced visit to one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest sites in the southern Iraqi city of Kerbala.
Hassan Pelarak, a top officer in the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, had recently been sanctioned by the U.S. for weapons smuggling. He was checking in on a construction project led by a firm he owns together with other Revolutionary Guards, a foundation linked to Iran's Supreme Leader. This foundation too is under U.S. sanctions.
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