Badr Brigade Leader Credits Iran for ‘Saving Baghdad’ from ISIS

Says Iraq Owes Existence to Iranian Aid

The scope of Iranian involvement in the Iraqi war with ISIS is never really apparent, but Badr Brigade leader and Iraqi MP Hadi Ameri today made clear that he believes Iranian involvement “saved” Baghdad, and indeed Iraq in general.

“If it were not for the cooperation of the Islamic Republic of Iran and General Suleimani, we would not today have a government headed by Hayder Abadi in Baghdad,” Ameri insisted, “it would not have existed.”

Gen. Suleimani, the head of Iran’s powerful Quds Force, has been in Iraq advising them militarily for months to the chagrin of western officials who have claimed Iraq is violating UN sanctions by allowing Suleimani to travel there.

Ameri’s comments underscore the Badr Brigade’s longstanding relationship with Iran, as well as the sense of doom that has pervaded Iraq’s war with ISIS throughout 2014, when large chunks of the country were lost to ISIS hands.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.