(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah - The results of the Iraqi legislative elections have taken both Iran and the U.S. by surprise. The party of Muqtada al-Sadr, the anti-American and anti-Iranian Shiite cleric, succeeded in winning 54 out of the 329 seats to become the biggest parliamentary faction. The Iranians dispatched Gen. Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, to Iraq before election day to coordinate the pro-Iranian factions running for parliament. In the aftermath of the elections, Soleimani was busy devising ways to counter al-Sadr's success. If al-Sadr succeeds in forming the next government, it seems likely that Iran would probably use its proxies in Iraq to undermine the regime. Iran finds itself on the defensive. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated in mid-May the need for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Syria (which means also Iranian and proxy forces). The writer is a former Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence.
2018-05-24 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive