US report shows the difficulty of Iran's retreat in Iraq, despite the resentment affecting its militias

US report shows the difficulty of Iran's retreat in Iraq, despite the resentment affecting its militias



Twilight News

21 minutes ago

The growing influence of Iran in the Middle East, already under US pressure, is facing increasing resistance within Iraq and Syria.

This was reported in a report published Friday by the Wall Street Journal, in which it showed that the discontent in Iraq from Iranian intervention even among the Shiites there reflected in the victory of Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in the recent elections.

The election campaign of the Sadr-supported coalition was based on advocacy for anti-corruption and foreign interference in Iraqi affairs. The clear victory of the alliance reflected the growing change in popular mood, which even affected Iranian-backed militias as they no longer dared to publicly announce their allegiance to the Iranian leader Ali Khamenei.

A new challenge

This resistance represents another challenge for Tehran, which is trying to maintain its gains in the region and to avoid international isolation following the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal.

"The consistent feature of the Iraqi political landscape is that Iran has many sources of support inside Iraq and the Iraqi regime is taking its options seriously," said Michael Stevens, a Middle East researcher at the Royal United Services Institute in London.

In Syria, even in the capital, Damascus, the majority of the population accuses Iran of stirring up religious tensions. Russia, the main foreign partner of President Bashar al-Assad, has shown hope for Iran's growing military presence there, which has prompted Israel to contain many recent raids.

With Israel's insistence on not allowing the Iranian presence to continue in Syria, this presence has become a growing burden on Assad, who is now seeking to boost his gains.

Tough hint

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued the harshest hints against Iran, saying Tehran had exhausted its host in Syria as part of a statement that foreign troops would soon leave Syria.

Iran responded to Putin's suggestion by speaking to foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasimi, who rejected the Russian president's statement, telling reporters that his country would remain in Syria as long as the existence of "terrorism".

The Syrian government has been seeking to reduce its dependence on Iran in recent months. Syrian government media announced this week that foreign troops had withdrawn before the start of the government offensive against armed opponents in the Daraa area near Israel.

Government evasion

Damascus also sought to restrict Iran's presence outside the military sphere by trying to evade initial agreements that grant Iran rights to prospect for phosphates and to work in mobile networks.

"Iran has a sense that it has a right in Syria, because it has spent a lot of money, energy and lives and is now looking to get the revenues from those expenses," said Goebbey Godardzi, an expert on Syrian-Iranian relations at St. Louis University in America.

Goudarzi says that if pressure mounts on Iran, it may begin to think of the least possible losses and is likely to start making concessions to Syria, but it is hard to undo its gains in Iraq.

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