IRGC Quds Force Unit 840: Mojtaba Haqlesan becomes commander of the overseas assassination unit

Esmail Qaani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, has appointed Mojtaba Haqlesan commander of Unit 840, the unit in charge of planning and carrying out assassinations and kidnappings of opponents of the Islamic Republic and of Western and Israeli targets outside Iran. Iran International published this information exclusively on Tuesday, 13 October 2026.

According to two sources close to the Quds Force, after the unit's structure and members were exposed, the IRGC decided to rename it "Unit 600", but its mission has not changed. Haqlesan, 64, was previously head of the unit's intelligence section. The former commander, Yazdan Mir, known as "Haj Asghar Bagheri", was killed in a targeted Israeli strike on 6 April this year, and the unit has had no commander since. The IRGC and the Quds Force have so far not responded to the report.

The new structure of Unit 600

Based on the same information, Mohammad-Reza Ansari is Haqlesan's deputy and in charge of the Israel file; Mohsen Boroujerdi runs special operations in the United States and Europe, Morteza Babaei special operations in the Middle East and Africa, and Javad Sharafi special operations in Asia. Meysam Sahraei is also named as one of the figures involved in attacks in Africa and India. The return of old faces to these posts is a sign of a command crisis in the IRGC after a number of its senior commanders were eliminated in the war.

Background of Unit 840 and the assassination of opponents abroad

Unit 840 was split off from Unit 400 in the early 2010s on the orders of Qasem Soleimani. The unit's name has been linked to the plot against John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, the plan to attack synagogues in Bochum and Essen in Germany, and the use of criminal gangs in Sweden and Denmark. A foiled plot to assassinate two Iran International journalists in London has also been attributed to this unit. The United States, Britain and the European Union have sanctioned its commander and a number of its members.

The publication of this information comes on the day Ken McCallum, head of MI5, spoke about the Islamic Republic shifting its targets in Britain to military bases and reported more than 50 arrests in cases linked to the Islamic Republic, many of which targeted Jewish communities. Earlier, the United States and 28 other countries had also confirmed the IRGC's role in the plot against the Fairford base.

After the exposure of its overseas assassination unit, the Islamic Republic has only changed its name and continues its mission.