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Iran Is on Collision Course with Iraqi Protesters
(Ha'aretz) Zvi Bar'el - Flash points in Lebanon and Iraq jeopardize the huge amount of money, knowhow and manpower that Iran has invested for decades and threaten to erode its influence, if not smash it to bits. Iran's most important base of control is in Iraq, which is controlled by a Shi'ite majority and headed by a pro-Iranian coalition. Iraq, whose trade with Iran reaches about $12 billion a year, is essential for Iran to evade American sanctions. Iranian Gen. Soleimani, the Quds force commander, has demanded that the Iraqi government use greater force against the protesters. Iraq's senior Shi'ite leader, Ayatollah Ali Husseini Sistani, opposes the use of force against the protests and has warned against the "intervention of foreign and international powers that intend to subvert the will of the Iraqi people" - mainly referring to Iran. The protesters are demanding the removal of Iranian influence in Iraq and the dissolution of the Shi'ite militias funded and supported by Iran. This position joins that of Muqtada Sadr, who headed the largest bloc in the 2018 election.