An intelligence leak provides details about how Iran managed to leverage chaos in Iraq to its own benefit
A trove of classified documents 700 pages long reveals the inner workings of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and its dealings in neighbouring Iraq, where its agents worked to expand Tehran’s influence.shine a light on how the Iranians managed to take advantage of the chaos sparked by the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq to become the dominant power there.
Despite their own bitter rivalry with Washington, Iran moved to establish itself as the dominant power in Iraq, where their co-religionist Shia Muslims made up around 60 percent of the population. Under the guise of de-Baathification, institutions such as the Iraqi Army ceased to exist overnight - leaving little effective force to bring order to a country shattered by war and sanctions.
Officers belonging to the organisation struck up ties with Sunni Arab groups who were disgruntled with Daesh rule during their short reign over Iraqi territory, as they did with groups associated with Iraq’s Kurdish regional government. In one excerpt, intelligence officers warn that the behaviour of the IRGC and their proxy militias risked harming perceptions of Iran within Iraq, and could contribute to all-out sectarian war.
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