Iran’s influence on Iraqi Shiite Militants Revealed
Despite a long period of American speculation and Iranian denial, it appears that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force and Lebanese Hezbollah operatives have been training Iraqi Shiite militants to attack U.S. troops in Iraq, according to U.S. interrogations of captured Iraqi prisoners. The prisoners’ statements have yet to be independently verified, but an 80-page intelligence document has been declassified, stating in detail the way in which Iraqis have been entering Iran and on to the military base in Tehran under Iranian supervision. This has demonstrated an Iranian desire to use Iraqis as “surrogates” to attack the U.S. troops in Iraq without engaging in a “direct war” with America, due to Iran being concerned with U.S. military ability to destroy that nation. These Iraqi prisoners have stated, however, that the Iranian and Iraqi Shia union is not without its tensions, commenting on Iraqi moral superiority over Iran. The Shiite connection does not seem to be as strong as that of being able to communicate through the common language of Arabic, saying they tended to “forge a closer bond” with the Lebanese Hezbollah for this reason. The complex nature of identities of people in the Middle East has an extremely long history, and seems to continue strong today.
Kayla Cahoon
