Unrest in Iraq in recent months has been about contesting the election, with the militia party Fatah refusing to accept the results. Iran is looking to intervene in the name of stability, and is admonishing their militia allies to accept the vote.
Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s party won the plurality in the vote. Iraqi PM Kadhimi has backed the result despite Fatah’s objections, which led to a failed attempt to assassinate him.
Iran Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani was rushed to Iraq to meet with militia figures almost immediately, both to tell them not to protest the vote, and trying to make sure there wouldn’t be other assassination attacks.
Both Iran and Iraq want to see the militias under control. Keeping them there is another matter, as the groups are nowhere near as loyal to Iran as advertised.
Iran Seeks to Calm Iraq Unrest in Talks With Militias
Iran intervened after failed assassination of Iraq PM
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.
Join the Discussion!
We welcome thoughtful and respectful comments. Hateful language, illegal content, or attacks against Antiwar.com will be removed.
For more details, please see our Comment Policy.
