Associated Press: In the Fight Against ISIS, Iran Has Become More Important to Iraq Than the U.S.

On Monday, January 22, the Associated Press published an article titled "Iran has overtaken the U.S. as Iraq's ally in the battle against militants." Here is the translation of the article: For many Iraqis, the best ally against the Islamic State group is not the United States and its airstrike campaign against the militants, but Iran, which has gained a good reputation for stopping the advance of these extremists toward Baghdad. Iran, a non-Arab Shia nation, has effectively taken on the defensive role for Iraq against this Sunni extremist group, responding to the Iraqi government's urgent need for immediate practical assistance. Daily, two or three Iranian military planes land at Baghdad airport carrying weapons and ammunition. Iran's most powerful military force and its most recognized commander – the Quds Force and its commander Qassem Soleimani – are organizing Iraqi forces and have effectively become the leaders of Iraq's Shia militias, which are considered the backbone of this battle. Iran has conducted airstrikes in Iraq to assist the militias in pushing back the extremists from provinces adjacent to the Iranian border. As a result, Tehran's influence in Iraq, which had increased since the withdrawal of U.S. forces in late 2011, has further grown to unprecedented levels. U.S.-led coalition airstrikes have helped push back these militants in parts of northern Iraq, including breaking the siege of a Shia town. However, many Iraqis believe that the Americans are more interested in helping the Kurds. These airstrikes in August helped Kurdish forces stop extremist threats against Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region. Yet, many Iraqis attribute even this significant achievement to Iran's timely delivery of weapons to the Kurds. The disarray of the Iraqi army in the face of the lightning-fast assault of extremists that occurred this summer in many northern and western regions of the country provided an opportunity for Iran to intervene. The wave of Shia volunteers who joined the fight to fill this vacuum strengthens the position of Shia militias allied with Iran. One Iraqi government official states that these militias have taken positions in Iraq's security apparatus, thus the Islamic State group has given Iran the "best gift." According to him, Iran sold approximately $10 billion worth of weapons and military equipment to Iraq over the past year. Most of these weapons are suitable for urban warfare, including assault weapons, heavy machine guns, and mortars. The daily arrival of Iranian planes carrying weapons and military equipment at Baghdad airport was previously confirmed by a former commander of Shia militias named Jamal Jafar at a news conference. Jamal Jafar, known by the nickname Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, is the second commander of a new entity established by the government to organize Shia volunteers. Some Sunnis are openly concerned about this situation. An Iraqi parliament member named Mohammad al-Karbouli states that the U.S. should increase its assistance to the Iraqi government against extremists to reduce Iran's influence in Iraq. He says, "Iran is now dominant over Iraq." There is also longstanding suspicion regarding Washington's intentions, as much as there is about Iran's growing influence in Iraq, especially among Shia militias. Hadi al-Amiri, a prominent Shia politician close to Iran and commander of the powerful Badr force, recently complained in a television interview that Iraq has been a victim of U.S. "wrong" policies in the Middle East for decades. He accused that previously Sunni extremists in the region received U.S. support. He stated: "We fear that the goal of the U.S.-led coalition is to maintain the existence of ISIS rather than to destroy it." Khaled al-Obeidi, the Sunni Minister of Defense of Iraq, stated last week during a visit to Tehran that Iran's assistance in combating ISIS is a "strategic necessity" for Iraq. Stuart Jones, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, also acknowledged in an interview with the Associated Press that Iran plays an important role in the fight against the Islamic State group. He noted that there is no connection between Iran's operations and those of the United States. In this interview conducted last month, he stated: "Let’s be realistic. Iran is an important neighbor of Iraq. The two countries cooperate. The Iranians talk to Iraq's security forces, and we talk to Iraq's security forces. Therefore, we are dependent on them to avoid the dangers of confronting ISIS." General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated that the U.S. is aware of Iran's activities against the Islamic State group through Iraqi leaders and that Washington is closely monitoring this process. He then stated that if the two countries become politically and economically closer, as long as the Iraqi government remains committed to including all the various groups in the country, he believes that Iran's influence will be positive. However, Ali Khodari, who was a senior U.S. official in Iraq from 2003 to 2009, warned that Iran's influence could be strategically "catastrophic." Khodari, who resigned in protest of the U.S. inability to cut Iran's influence in Iraq, stated: "This issue further solidifies Iran's dominance over ISIS and Iraq." Iran's sphere of influence extends to Lebanon and Syria, which border Iraq. In Syria, Iran supports Bashar al-Assad's government against the majority Sunni opposition. Lebanon is also home to Hezbollah, the most powerful group in the country and an important representative of Iran. Additionally, the Houthi rebels, who have captured parts of Yemen in recent months, have raised concerns about Iran's influence there. There are many signs of Iran's influence in Iraq. The Prime Minister, the Sunni Speaker of Parliament, and other senior politicians have visited Tehran. Most senior Sunni politicians in Iraq have refrained from publicly criticizing Iran and disparaging Shia politicians on the grounds of their closeness to Tehran. Death notices of militia members killed in battle, along with images of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and his successor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been posted on billboards around Baghdad. Last month, an unprecedented number of Iranians, estimated at around four million, crossed the Iraqi border to visit the shrine of the third Shia Imam in the city of Karbala. Iranians have also been exempted from visa fees. The two countries quietly continue their military cooperation. Iran sometimes publicly announces the death of one of its senior officers in the Iraq war or speaks of its role as a "military advisor" in Iraq. Iraqi state media do not report that Iran has military involvement in the country. Instead, they inform the public about U.S.-led coalition airstrikes or the arrival of American advisors. Qassem Soleimani has spent most of the past seven months commanding militias and tactical cooperation with government forces on the fronts in Iraq. This 58-year-old commander, who speaks Arabic fluently, is reportedly referred to by Ayatollah Khamenei as a "living martyr." One of the senior Shia militia members in Iraq who recently met with him stated that he was impressed by his piety and bravery. He said that he saw this Iranian commander in the western outskirts of Iraq in the position of an attack, speaking in Persian with the gunner of an American tank belonging to the Iraqi army about the coordinates of the location. This militia member stated that the gunner was one of the members of the Revolutionary Guards.