Under Iranian pressure: Iraq remains neutral regarding Russian-Ukrainian war

Day after day, the Iranian regime under the leadership of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is proving that it is in control of a large proportion of the joints of the Iraqi state and its decision-making centers, and this was evident during the vote on the UN resolution regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where Baghdad abstained from voting on this decision. Iraqi sources later revealed that this abstention was the result of pressure by Iran on the Iraqi government.

Iranian pressure

According to these sources, Tehran has exerted pressure on the Baghdad government in order to remain silent and not express a clear position towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in addition to the Baghdad government’s rejection of the Central Bank of Iraq’s request for a temporary refusal to sign any contract with Russia as a result of the economic sanctions imposed by Washington on Moscow.

Not only that, but the militias loyal to the Iranian regime in Iraq distributed a number of banners in the streets of Baghdad in favor and support of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Iraqi security forces then took them down.

Mullahs' militias

The pro-Iranian militias in Iraq also launched a campaign on Twitter in support of Russia and attached a picture of Putin in the streets of Baghdad. They announced that this campaign was aimed at responding to the distorted attempts to abuse the historical relations between Baghdad and Moscow and to confirm the friendship between the two countries and that they support anything that can weaken the United States. Despite this, a number of Iraqis announced their rejection of this campaign in support of Moscow and stressed that they had become “tails to Russia,” noting that international conflicts are nothing but conflicts of interests and calling on the Iraqi government to take down pictures of all non-Iraqi figures from the streets of Baghdad.

It is worth noting that both Iraq and Iran have good relations with Moscow, whether in the economic or political aspect, as the Russian ambassador to Iraq had previously announced his country’s investment of more than $14 billion in Iraq’s energy sector. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also visited Moscow a few weeks before the crisis with Ukraine and signed a number of agreements, and this may be one of the reasons for Iran’s support for Russia in this crisis, which was clearly manifested in the statements of Iranian officials who have not yet criticized Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As expected

Dr. Masoud Ibrahim Hassan, a researcher specializing in Iranian affairs, explained that the mullah regime’s pressure on Iraq in the Russian-Ukrainian war is expected, especially since Iran considers Russia a strong ally and its vision for this war comes under the slogan “conflict with the West.” Hence, Iran will support anyone who fights the West and the United States, just as Moscow had a role in Iran’s nuclear file and its support for Tehran against the American sanctions imposed on it.

In an exclusive statement to the Reference, Hassan pointed out that Iran not only considers Iraq its neighbor, but also an essential part of it, and that Tehran has a genuine right to speak on behalf of Baghdad and put pressure on it. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq became subject to the Iranian regime through the latter’s militias deployed there, which took advantage of Iraq in Tehran’s war with United States, and now they are using Baghdad in the war with Russia against Ukraine.