BAGHDAD: Iran’s influence is looming large as Iraqis prepare to head to the polls for parliamentary elections in May, with many in the country worried that Tehran may be looking to strengthen its political grip on Baghdad through the ballot box.
Iranian support and military advisers helped Baghdad’s Shiite-led government beat back the Daesh group. But with militants now largely defeated militarily, Iran’s expanding influence has emerged as one of Iraq’s most divisive issues ahead of the balloting.
That influence has sown fear among Iraq’s disenchanted minority Sunnis, who bore the brunt of the war’s destruction, and has also caused concern in Washington. Despite tensions between the United States and Iran, both remain key allies of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi’s government.
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis last month accused Iran of “mucking around” in Iraq’s upcoming elections, telling reporters the US has what he called “worrisome evidence” that Iran is funneling “not an insignificant amount of money” into Iraq to try to sway votes. Baghdad rejected the accusation.
Government spokesman Saad Al-Hadithi stressed that the use of foreign money in domestic politics “is illegal and unconstitutional.”
“The government is taking great efforts to hold free and fair elections and prevent the manipulation of election results,” he said.
Both Iran and Iraq are Shiite-majority counties and share deep economic and cultural ties — as well as a 1,500-kilometer (900-mile) border.
The two countries fought a devastating war in the 1980s that left hundreds of thousands dead. But Iranian influence in Iraq has steadily grown since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, marking the start of a prolonged period of sectarian division, extremist violence and political strife.
Under Saddam, many of Iraq’s Shiite political elite spent years in exile in Iran. Since Saddam’s ouster, Iraqi markets have been stocked with Iranian goods and millions of Iranian pilgrims descend on Iraq each year to visit holy shrines in the cities of Samarra, Baghdad, Najaf and Karbala.
When entire divisions of Iraq’s military disintegrated following the fall of the city of Mosul to IS in the summer of 2014, Iranian influence soared.
Weeks before the US began a bombing campaign against Daesh, Iranian advisers and support for Iraqi Shiite militias, which became known as Popular Mobilization Units, helped halt Daesh’s advance, which came dangerously close to Baghdad. From then on, the militias became instrumental in the battle against Daesh.
More than 500 members of the paramilitary forces or political figures associated with the militias are now running for parliament.
Ahmed Al-Asadi is one of the candidates with strong paramilitary ties. An elected member of parliament from Baghdad and former spokesman for the PMU, Al-Asadi cut his ties with the force before launching his re-election bid — a formality required by a governing body overseeing the May vote.
“Iran is the ally of the powerful forces that supported Iraq against terrorism,” he said, dismissing concerns that Tehran plays a destabilizing role in Iraq.
But other Iraqi politicians worry that if a large number of men like Al-Asadi win seats in parliament, Iraq will be even more beholden to its eastern neighbor.
Saleh Al-Mutlaq, a longtime Iraqi politician and former deputy prime minister, said he expects candidates with ties to the Shiite militias to do well in upcoming elections.
“These elections will be disastrous for this country,” he said. “The PMU will be a key player in the political process and this will give Iran a role and a word in forming the government and in choosing a prime minister.”
Iran is not the only one trying to influence the May vote, said Joost Hiltermann, a longtime Iraq researcher with the International Crisis Group.
“Everybody is trying to buy or gain influence, anybody who has a stake in Iraq that is, whether they do it with money or intimidation or other kinds of incentives,” he said. “Ever since there have been elections in 2005, there’s been meddling.”
The future of American forces in Iraq hinges in large part on who becomes Iraq’s next prime minister and who gets to lead the country’s most powerful ministries.
While the Shiite militias racked up several early victories against Daesh, it was US-led coalition airstrikes that allowed Iraqi forces to retake urban areas. Iraq remains deeply dependent on US military aid, training and intelligence sharing.
While Al-Abadi, who is seeking re-election with his recently formed Victory Alliance party, has said he is open to long-term American training programs for Iraqi forces, some of his opponents have taken a much harder line, describing any US forces in Iraq as occupiers.
The US still has more than 5,000 troops in Iraq, supporting its fight against remaining pockets of Daesh, most significantly along Iraq’s volatile border with Syria, in western Anbar province and around the city of Kirkuk — areas that have seen an uptick in militant activity.
“I’m not going to speculate on anything that could or would happen,” coalition spokesman Col. Ryan Dillon said when asked if there is concern that a change in government could affect the US-led coalition’s presence in Iraq.
“We are here at the invitation of the government of Iraq to support their operation to defeat Daesh, and we’ll continue to do so as long as we are invited,” he said, referring to Daesh by an Arabic acronym.
Iraq grapples with Iranian influence ahead of May elections
Iraq grapples with Iranian influence ahead of May elections
- More than 500 members of the paramilitary forces or political figures associated with the Iran-backed PMU are now running for parliament
- Many Iraqis worried that Tehran may be looking to strengthen its political grip on Baghdad through elections
Gaza amputees get new limbs, but can’t shake off war trauma
- Survivors are haunted by memories of war and their terror of losing loved ones
ABU DHABI: Layan Al Nasr, 14, thought she would never walk again after both of her legs were amputated following an Israeli bombing in Gaza one year ago.
Now, she stands proudly on artificial limbs fitted in the UAE. But fear for her family, still living under the attacks, gnaws away.
“When I was told about prosthetics when I arrived, I didn’t even know they existed,” she jokes, taking a few steps supported by crutches.
She is able to smile as she describes her operations, rehabilitation and her newfound hope. But emotion eventually catches up with her.
“What scares me today is losing my brothers, my sisters and my father,” she confides, bursting into tears.
Nasr is one of more than 2,000 wounded or seriously ill Palestinians flown with their closest relatives to the UAE during the Israel-Hamas war.
Plucked from shattered Gaza, much of it in ruins, they are lucky to escape a conflict that has left more than 45,000 people dead in the Palestinian territory.
The survivors brought to the UAE are haunted by their memories of war and their terror of losing loved ones, despite their new existence in calm, quiet Abu Dhabi.
“I don’t care what happens to me, the important thing is that nothing happens to them,” insists Nasr.
The complex housing them in the UAE capital has a school, mosque, grocery store and a hairdresser, as well as a care center offering physiotherapy, speech therapy and counseling.
“Thanks to the prosthetics and the care provided, patients have regained their autonomy,” says physiotherapist Mustafa Ahmed Naji Awad.
But the hardest thing to treat is the psychological impact, he admits.
Faten Abu Khoussa, who came with her 10-year-old daughter Qamar, can testify to this.
The little girl was caught in an air raid in Gaza when she went out to buy a packet of crisps, losing a leg from her injuries.
Qamar’s spirits have gradually improved over time, but “it remains very difficult for her. She loved nothing more than playing on her scooter,” says her mother.
“She feels alone without her brothers and sisters” who have fled to Egypt, Abu Khoussa adds.
The single mother, now separated from the other children she has been raising since her husband’s death, is desperately trying to reunite her family in the UAE.
Until then she feels her life is “suspended,” leaving her unable to plan for the future.
The Emirati authorities say the afflicted Palestinians and their family members will be asked to return home when conditions allow.
Ahmad Mazen, 15, who came with his mother to have a lower-leg prosthesis fitted, was looking forward to being reunited with his father and brother.
But shortly after his arrival, he learned that they had been killed in a bombing raid.
His only consolation is football, his passion, and the “indescribable feeling” of finally being able to kick a ball again, he says.
Turkey and US discuss need to cooperate with new Syrian administration
- Turkish fForeign Minister Hakan Fidan tells Secretary of State Blinken that Ankara would not allow Kurdish YPG militia to take shelter in Syria
ANKARA: Turkiye’s foreign minister discussed with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday the need to act in cooperation with the new Syrian administration to ensure the completion of the transition period in an orderly manner, the ministry said.
In a phone call, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told Blinken that Ankara would not allow Kurdish YPG militia to take shelter in Syria, the ministry spokesperson said.
During the call, Blinken emphasized the need to support a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political process that “upholds human rights and prioritizes an inclusive and representative government,” according to a statement from the US State Department.
Blinken and Fidan also discussed preventing terrorism from endangering the security of Turkiye and Syria, the statement said.
Damascus rally demands news of missing Syrians
- Dozens of somber protesters holding pictures of the disappeared assembled in central Damascus’s Hijaz Square
DAMASCUS: A silent crowd gathered in the Syrian capital Damascus to press the new authorities about the fate of relatives who went missing under Bashar Assad and to demand justice for their loved ones.
The fate of tens of thousands of people who disappeared under Assad — who was ousted on Dec. 8 by a coalition of rebels — is a key question after more than 13 years of devastating civil war that saw upwards of half a million people killed.
Dozens of somber protesters holding pictures of the disappeared assembled in central Damascus’s Hijaz Square, a journalist said.
“It is time for tyrants to be held accountable,” read a black banner unfurled from the balcony of the elegant Ottoman-era train station.
Other placards read: “Revealing the fate of the missing is a right,” and “I don’t want an unmarked grave for my son, I want the truth.”
Such a demonstration would have been unthinkable under Assad’s rule, but it is now possible under the new authorities dominated by the radical group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, which led the offensive that overthrew him.
“Unfortunately for many years we were united in the grief of absence and uncertainty, waiting for our loved ones, one amnesty after another,” said Wafa Mustafa in a speech in the midst of the protesters.
Her father Ali was arrested in 2013.
“We all saw the scenes of prisoners being freed. It was a source of joy, but it was also very difficult because we did not see our own loved ones among them,” she said.
“We are here to say we will not accept anything less than the whole truth, to know what happened to our relatives, who tortured them, and if they were buried, where they are,” she added.
Amani Al-Hallaq, 28, was seeking news about where to find the remains of her cousin, who was kidnapped in 2012 when he was a student dentist.
“I was once one of those who was afraid. This is the first time I am protesting,” the 28-year-old Amani said.
Her cousin was abducted as he came out of the university, said the young woman in a headscarf.
“They pulled out his nails. He died instantly,” she said.
“We want to know where the disappeared are, their bodies, so we can identify them.”
Qatar PM meets Hamas delegation for Gaza ceasefire talks
- Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani held talks with a Hamas team led by senior official Khalil Al-Hayya
DOHA: Qatar’s prime minister met a Hamas delegation in Doha on Saturday to discuss a “clear and comprehensive” ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, a statement said.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani held talks with a Hamas team led by senior official Khalil Al-Hayya, the foreign ministry statement said.
It is unusual for Sheikh Mohammed, who is also Qatar’s foreign minister, to be publicly involved in the mediation process that has appeared deadlocked for months.
“During the meeting, the latest developments in the Gaza ceasefire negotiations were reviewed, and ways to advance the process were discussed to ensure a clear and comprehensive agreement that brings an end to the ongoing war in the region,” the statement said.
Earlier this month, the sheikh expressed optimism that “momentum” was returning to the talks following Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States.
“We have sensed, after the election, that the momentum is coming back,” he said at the Doha Forum political conference.
The incoming Trump administration had given “a lot of encouragement in order to achieve a deal, even before the president comes to the office,” the premier added.
The Gulf emirate, along with the United States and Egypt, has been involved in months of unsuccessful negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release.
In November, Doha announced it had put its mediation on hold, saying that it would resume when Hamas and Israel showed “willingness and seriousness.”
But Doha then hosted indirect negotiations this month, with Hamas and Israel both reporting progress before again accusing each other of throwing up roadblocks.
Israel destroys Hezbollah tunnel, met with calls for popular resistance
- Secret crossing routes link Damascus to Beirut
- Sixty-seven Syrians deported
BEIRUT: The Israeli military announced its “success in dismantling an underground tunnel in southern Lebanon, measuring 100 meters in length, leading to a hideout belonging to the Radwan Forces of Hezbollah.”
Israeli forces, which have been infiltrating the border area in southern Lebanon since Oct. 1 continue to operate in the country despite the ceasefire agreement, with Saturday marking the beginning of the second month of the specified withdrawal deadline.
While the Israeli military justified its hostile activities in southern Lebanon as “removing threats in line with the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” it said that “the 300th Brigade, in cooperation with the 146th Division and engineering forces, successfully dismantled the mentioned tunnel.”
It added that “the specialized Yahalom Unit, dealing with explosives, secured and inspected the tunnel for threats. During the operations, large quantities of weapons were discovered inside the tunnel, including rifles, machine guns, anti-tank missiles, as well as advanced surveillance systems. All the equipment was confiscated and destroyed, including the tunnel itself.”
The statement mentioned “the discovery of a stockpile of anti-tank missiles and heavy machine-gun positions directed toward Israeli sites near the tunnel.” It also noted that “the tunnel’s path led to a Hezbollah command center containing rocket launch platforms previously used against Israel during the war, as well as large quantities of explosives.”
While the Israeli military continues to encroach upon the border area and prevents residents from accessing the area until further notice in an attempt to establish a buffer zone, anonymous statements circulated on social media calling for “popular resistance.”
Activists supportive of Hezbollah criticized the Lebanese Army and state for not responding to the Israeli incursions into towns and villages and demanded that Hezbollah “arm and train us so we can resist the Israeli occupier and liberate our land with our own hands.”
A statement signed by a group calling itself Youth of the Border Villages declared: “We find ourselves compelled to defend our villages and properties with whatever weapons are available, and we will not accept the continuation of this barbaric, systematic, and brutal aggression by the enemy. We will be forced to launch a southern popular resistance to confront this assault.”
Another statement signed by a group called Youth of Beirut’s Southern Suburb called on “the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, represented by Hezbollah, to fight in defense of the land, the people, and honor.”
The statement referred to the Israeli violations that occurred after the ceasefire agreement was announced and stated that “given what has happened, after consulting with the Lebanese state and receiving no response, and consulting UNIFIL without receiving any answer, we hereby legally, morally, and ethically authorize Hezbollah and demand it to arm and train us so we can resist the Israeli occupier and liberate our land with our own hands.”
However, despite these anonymous calls, the caretaker government, in which Hezbollah is a key partner, continues to affirm its commitment to the “ceasefire agreement and its insistence on implementing Resolution 1701 as a means to stop hostilities against Lebanon.”
Meanwhile, Hezbollah continues to hold funerals for members killed in southern Lebanon.
During the funeral of one in the city of Hermel on Saturday, Hezbollah MP Ihab Hamadeh condemned “the repeated Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.” He held “the Lebanese government and the committee overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire accountable,” asserting that “resistance remains the most effective option to confront the Israeli enemy.”
On the other side of the border, the Lebanese General Security deported 67 Syrians who had entered Lebanese territory illegally through Al-Arida border crossing with Syria in the north.
In a statement, the Internal Security Forces announced that they had “intercepted a bus carrying the Syrians in the Jbeil area. Upon inspection, 67 individuals were found on board, including men, women, and children, one of whom was an infant no older than 40 days. They had been smuggled into Lebanon from Syria to be transported to Beirut.”
Meanwhile, media reports cited a Lebanese security source stating that “Rifaat Assad, uncle of the ousted Syrian president Bashar Assad, departed Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport for Dubai on Tuesday afternoon, accompanied by two individuals on a private jet.”
On Friday, Lebanese General Security detained Rifaat Assad’s granddaughter and her mother at the airport after discovering both were carrying passports that had expired.
Numerous former Assad regime officials have left the country via Lebanon since the fall of the regime. Among those was Bouthaina Shaaban, a senior adviser to the deposed leadership , according to Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi.
However, security services arrested a former officer from the 4th Division, belonging to Syria’s Al-Kreidi family, while he was en route to Beirut with $170,000 in his possession.
Meanwhile, security forces are still investigating whether the former head of Syrian Air Force Intelligence, Jamil Hassan — accused by US authorities of committing war crimes during Assad’s rule — is currently in Lebanon.
The Lebanese judiciary received an Interpol request for his arrest, and Prime Minister Najib Mikati affirmed at the time that Lebanon “will cooperate with Interpol’s request.”