Iran’s Quds Force recruited local operatives to conduct surveillance on Israeli diplomatic missions in Kampala and Dakar, planning attacks that were subsequently thwarted by intelligence services, according to materials reviewed by Iran International.
The case highlights Iran’s increasingly aggressive use of African recruits to target Israeli interests across the continent, with Uganda serving a dual role as both an operational theatre and a suspected weapons transit hub.
According to European intelligence sources, three Quds Force officers — Meysam Sahraei, Reza Ghabadi and Abbas Mohammad Naeim — orchestrated the plot through a “proxy-of-a-proxy” model. A Ugandan construction worker was allegedly approached by Zahid Jawad, a Pakistani national who claimed to be a member of the Quds Force — a service branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which forms part of the Iranian Armed Forces — and instructed to film the embassy and procure handguns and grenades.
WhatsApp messages reviewed by the London-based outlet showed Iranian handlers referring to the recruit as “Rambo” and sending images of weapons to purchase. The suspect claimed approval for funds to be transferred, though payments could not be independently verified.
Separate intelligence suggests Iran is exploiting Uganda’s geography for arms shipments. According to a source within Iran’s Mahan Air who spoke to Iran International, the IRGC has transported weapons aboard Fars Qeshm Air Boeing 747 flights via Entebbe airport en route to Yemen.
Flight registry data confirms aircraft matching those descriptions landed at Entebbe on 24 September and 28 October; however, the contents of the cargo cannot be verified.
Iran has sought alternative supply routes since losing its Syrian corridor following Bashar al-Assad’s fall last year. The use of African transit points demonstrates Tehran’s ability to adapt and maintain the flow of weapons to regional proxies, despite international pressure.
The Uganda plot is similar to disrupted operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2022, when the Quds Force recruited a Congolese student at an Iranian university in a similar scheme, and South Africa in 2020.
Uganda’s internal affairs and security ministries, along with Iran’s UN mission, did not respond to Iran International’s requests for comment. Israel’s embassies in Kampala and Dakar similarly declined to comment.
