Iran is fighting on the Iraqi government’s side

Much like in Syria, Iran doesn’t want Sunni Islamist rebels to topple a friendly Shia government.

By Zack Beauchamp@zackbeauchamp Nov 17, 2015, 10:25am EST

If you buy something from a Vox link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Fighters of the Shiite militia “Hashed al-Shaabi” in a training camp south of Mosul, Iraq.

Zack Beauchamp is a senior correspondent at Vox, where he covers ideology and challenges to democracy, both at home and abroad. Before coming to Vox in 2014, he edited TP Ideas, a section of Think Progress devoted to the ideas shaping our political world.

Part of 18 things about ISIS you need to know

The Iranian government is Shia, and it has close ties with the Iraqi government. Much like in Syria, Iran doesn’t want Sunni Islamist rebels to topple a friendly Shia government. So in both countries, Iran has gone to war.

Iran has been involved in at least three ways. First, and perhaps most importantly, Iran is the big backer behind Iraq’s Shia militias, a major force in the battle against ISIS. ”Let’s call a spade a spade here: The Iranians are running the show,” Phillip Smyth, a University of Maryland researcher whose work focuses on Shia militias, explained in March. Iran arms many of the groups; Qassem Suleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, is often said to be leading the overall militia strategy.

Suleimani’s role actually may be broader than just directing militia strategy. A number of outlets have reported that he’s playing a critical role in shaping Iraq’s overall strategy in the fight against ISIS, one going so far as to call him the country’s ”chief tactician.” This strategic guidance is Iran’s second major contribution to the ISIS fight — and one that indicates just how deeply enmeshed Iranians are in Iraqi politics.

Finally, there’s Iran’s direct military involvement. Iran has openly conducted airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq, but usually denies that it has deployed any troops on the ground. That’s a little hard to believe given Suleimani’s role in the conflict: It’s very hard to imagine the leader of the Quds Force is traveling without any accompaniment from Quds Force soldiers. And there have been numerous (unconfirmed) reports of Iranian troops fighting on the ground.

So Iran’s involvement in the conflict is extensive. This creates something of a dilemma for the United States, which, in an ideal world, wants to limit Iranian influence in Iraq as much as possible.

Iranian involvement has played a critical role in helping beat back ISIS, but it’s also strengthened Iran’s political hand inside Iraq. That puts the United States in an awkward position of tacitly working with Iran against ISIS while nominally attempting to limit Iranian influence.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?