Iranian Strategy in Iraq: Politics and "Other Means".

• Author: Abrahamson, James L.
• Position: Periodical review

IRANIAN STRATEGY IN IRAQ: Politics and "Other Means"

http://www.ctc.usma.edu/Iran_Iraq/CTC_Iran_Iraq_Final.pdf

By Joseph Felter and Brian Fishman

In this October 2008 Occasional Paper from the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, Colonel Joseph Felter and Professor Brian Fishman place recent media reports concerning Iranian weapons support for terrorism in Iraq within the broader context of Iranian policy. In addition to relying on scholarly resources, their conclusions about Iran's aims and methods rest on documents and reports of the U.S., Coalition, and Iraqi intelligence services as well as interviews of Iranian detainees conducted in the summer of 2008. Aware of possible questions about the accuracy of some of their sources, the authors include extensive documentation (accessible at http://www.ctc.usma.edu) in their report so that readers might form their own assessments.

Taking the broad view, Felter and Fishman conclude that Iran has a "deliberate, strategic policy to increase its power and influence in Iraq and throughout the region." That conclusion derives from chapters devoted to Iranian intervention in Iraq during the rule of Saddam Hussein, Iran's current political strategy, its training of Iraqi militias, and the recent controversy over its provision of weapons to Iraqi militias--all too extensive for detailed summary here. The authors use that survey to argue that Iran seeks to maintain its influence in Iraq primarily through supportive ties to Shia political parties and militias.

During two decades of exile in Iran, core members of Iraq's principal Shia parties--Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, the Badr Organization, and the Dawah Party--came to call Iran "home." While in Iran, they received support and training, learned Farci, came to respect Persian culture, and often established close personal ties to Iranian officials. Though the former exiles did not become Iranian proxies following their return to Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iran benefits from the three parties' success in achieving positions of power within the new Iraqi government. Iran also gains influence in Iraq through the use of its Revolutionary Guard Corps and its Qods Force, which provide extensive training and armaments to several anti-American militias that also challenge the Iraqi government. Within Iraq, Iran also relies on Lebanese Hizballah agents to further the influence obtained from the provision of training and assistance to the Shia...