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Iran Moves to Cement Its Influence in Syria
(Wall Street Journal) Raja Abdulrahim and Benoit Faucon - Iran is offering cash, food, Iranian ID cards, public services and free education to Syria's majority Sunni Muslim population battered by war in Islamic State's former eastern Syrian stronghold. "The goal is to re-create the Persian empire," said Muneer al-Khalaf, a member of the city council of Raqqa, once Islamic State's capital. Iran's hearts-and-minds campaign undermines efforts by the U.S., Israel and Arab states to roll back Tehran's influence and force it out of Syria. Syrians who join the ranks of the Iranian militia and convert to the Shiite sect of the Islamic faith are promised a guard corps ID card - allowing them to cross checkpoints without hassle - and $200 a month. In cities and villages across Syria, the Iranian militia has taken over mosques and is sounding the Shiite call to prayer from the minarets. "If you're a student, they offer a scholarship. If you're poor, they give you aid," said an aid worker. "Whatever your need is they fill it, just so you become Shiite."