Iran is chief sponsor of global terrorism

Systematic demographic changes brewing in Iraq

“The Public Mobilisation in Iraq is commanded by army generals from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. They include Hadi al-Amri, leader of the Badr Organisation, an Iranian-sponsored Shi’ia militia. Al-Amri joined the Iranian army, which was mobilised by Ayatulla Khomeni to fight the Iraqi army of Saddam Hussein in the 1980s”

Preamble

The war-ravaged Iraq has become a jungle teeming with armed militias and terrorist groups loyal to Iran to help it conclude its destructive project in the Arab region. As a result, terrorist acts are escalating catastrophically in Iraq. The Iraqi people are living in a real nightmare.  Due to financial and logistic support they are receiving from foreign countries and institutions, Iran-linked militias in Iraq embarked on extraterritorial terrorist activities.  

Since the outbreak of the Iranian revolution in 1979, Teheran has been haunted by the dream of the Persian empire. To achieve this lifelong dream, Teheran decided to lend logistic and military support to extremists and militants prowling the Middle East.  As a result, sectarian seditions and civil wars have erupted in the region. Violence has become the rule in different Arab countries, which rejected Teheran’s expansionist and colonial policies.   

Iran’s expansionist project, however, is unfolding in Iraq more powerfully than in any other Arab country. Teheran-linked armed militias fuelled inter-communal violence and civil wars in Sunni-dominated cities and towns. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi families fled their homes to escape from systematic atrocities at the hands of these armed militias.

This study examines violent ideology and belligerent policies concealed in Iran’s alleged political project in the Middle East. The study pays special attention to the situation in Iraq, nonetheless.   

Background of Iran’s belligerent ideology

Since the removal of the Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, from the throne in 1979, Iran has been in the grips of Khomeni, who wrote a constitution, which commits the Persian state to deepening ethnic and racial divisions by relegating the minorities in neighbouring countries. He also issued decisions and decrees he quoted from books and studies written by Shi’a radical  faqihs (turbaned scholars).  Like Khomeni, his successors are bent on exporting the Iranian Islamic Revolution across the world.

Khomeni’s constitution gives the Iranian army extraterritorial military commitments.  Article (3) states: “The responsibility of the Iranian Armed Forces is not limited to protecting the national borders. The Armed Forces is responsible for protecting ‘the weak’ across the world.”

Khomeni’s expansionist policies are giving top priority to the neighbouring country of Iraq. One of the top advisers of Iranian President Hassan Ruhani, Al-Yunisi, said proudly that Iran had become an empire with Baghdad being its capital. “Throughout history, Baghdad has been the centre of the Persian civilization, culture and identity,” he said.

Haidar Meselhi, ex-Minister of Intelligence in the government of ex-President Ahmadinejad, said that Iran had brought four Arab countries under its control. “The Iranian revolution does not recognise national borders of its neighbours,” the ex-Minister of Intelligence added.

Iran’s expansionism strategy was also stressed by Gen. Rahim Safadi, top military adviser of Iran’s spiritual leader Ali Khamenei. He said that the 21^st century would witness the formation of Global Islamic State with Iran being its centre.

Determined to fulfill the dream of a Persian empire sprawling across the region, Iran established political and military institutions, whose chief aim is to overthrow regimes and thrones in Iraq and in Gulf states; and replace them with regimes loyal to the turbaned rulers in Qom.  

One of the most powerful institutions Teheran has established is the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which is allegedly formed to lend support to resistance movements and armed militias.  In addition, the IRGs launched espionage networks in countries, which are allegedly hostile to the Persian state. The IRGS also signaled to ‘sleeping cells’ it patronised in these countries to intensify their terrorist attacks to terrorise the monitories and shake their confidence in their governments.

The IRGs is also responsible for deepening the Iranian influence in Arab countries, such as Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. 

Since 1989, the IRGs has launched dozens of terrorist attacks in different countries in the world. They include:

-The assassination in Vienna in 1989 of Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran; his assistant Abdulla Azr was also killed in the attack.  

-In 1989-1990, the Iranian regime was accused of assassinating four Saudi diplomats in Thailand. They were Abdulla al-Mali, Abdulla al-Basri, Fahd al-Bahli and Ahmed al-Sif.

-The killing in 1991 of Shapor Bakhtiar, the Shah of Iran’s last Prime Minister.

-The assassination in 1992 of Sadegh Sharafkandi, the Secretary-General of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (PDKI).Three of his aides were also killed in the attack.

-In 1994, Venezuelan government officially accused four Iranian diplomats of helping instigate riots at Simon Bolivar International Airport to deport Iranian refugees. 

-The assassination in Karachi, Pakistan in 2011 of Saudi diplomat Hassan el-Qahtani.

-In October 2011, Iran was accused of attempting to assassinate Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubair in Washington.

-In 2012, Security authorities in Azerbaijan foiled an assassination attempt against American diplomats and officials.

-In 2016, Commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohamed Ali Jaafari, confessed officially that Teheran had deployed about 100, 000 fighters in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen.

The strongest condemnation to Iran’s terrorist activities across the world was delivered  by Director of the Washington Institute’s Stein Programme on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. In his statement before the US Senate Subcommittee for Middle East and Central Asia, on July 25, 2012, Stein’s Director accused Iran of sponsoring global terrorism. “Teheran is supporting the Lebanese Hezbollah to help carry out its terrorist policies.” he said, adding: “Iran depends on terrorism to serve the interests of its external policies.”

Iran-planned conspiracy to occupy Iraq

In its bid to hijack Arab countries, Teheran used Islam to weave suspicious relationship with extremist and fundamentalist organisations, which are fighting local regimes. A misleading banner “Islamic Unity in the Face of Global Arrogance” was raised to legitimise religiously sinister goals. 

Teheran ordered allies (armed militias and lobbyists) in different Arab countries to instigate social instability; and sow the seeds of hatred, sedition and communal problems to help undermine Arab regimes and establish the Persian empire on their ruins.   

a-Heterogeneous Alliance between Iran and Al-Qaeda

A heterogeneous ideology did not impede Teheran’s endeavor to form an alliance with Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist organisations in Iraq. It was Ayman Al-Zawahri, in his capacity as the leader of Al-Jihad group in the late 1990s, who opened the door for the Iranians to have a strong relationship with Al-Qaeda’s leader Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden made use of Al-Zawahri’s good relationship with the Iranians to open military training camps to qualify his fighters to launch terrorist attacks on the US. According to an agreement between Iran and Bin Laden, Teheran provided logistic support to Al-Qaeda’s fighters before they would be deployed across the world. Moreover, the Iranian security authorities helped smooth transfer of Al-Qaeda’s fighters to different countries in the world. The IRGs also smuggled Bin Laden’s Mujahideen into the neighbouring country of Iraq.   

Like Bin Laden, Abu-Mosab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al-Qaeda-linked Jihadists in Syria and Iraq, enjoyed logistic and military support from the Iranians. In return,  al-Zarqawi’s fighters attacked the American troops and Shi’a civilians to shake the confidence of the Iraqi people in their government. In collaboration with al-Zarkawi, Teheran sought to deliver a message to the traumatised Iraqis that Iran alone had the potentials to guarantee safety and security in this Arab country. The devilish alliance between Iran and al-Zarqawi’s Jihadists in this respect was revealed by the US documents.

According to the US documents, Iran made use of its alliance with Al-Qaeda’s fighters in Iraq to resist the American threat, if it approached the Iranian borders. In the meantime, the Iranians used al-Zarqawi’s fighters to highlight the Persian project in the area at the expense of the damaged image of Sunni Islam.

The US documents showed that regardless of their heterogeneous ideologies and political aims, Teheran managed to seduce al-Zarqawi into waging tragic wars in Iraq to weaken this Arab neighbour and manipulate its sovereign decisions. Al-Zarqawi was also used to justify Iran’s heavy military presence in Iraq and increase pressure on Gulf neighbours. Thanks to al-Zarqawi, Iraq has become a big market for Iranian weapons and goods.

It must be said that the Iranian nuclear deal, though fragile, did not slow down Teheran’s bid to strengthen its relations with different Jihadist groups. Also, thanks to its relationship with Al-Qaeda in Iraq and Syria, Iran managed to keep its borders safe from attacks by Jihadists. Paradoxically, Jihadists appeared to have pledged tacitly that in return to logistic and military assistance they received from the Persian state, they would attack Arab neighbours if their chief patron comes under attack. 

b- ISIS-Iran conspiracy to cause religious division in Iraq

 The release of ISIS members and leaders from Sednaya military prison near Damascus in 2011 shed more light on a clandestine relationship between Teheran and this terrorist organisation. The decision was made by no other than Syrian President Bashar Assad.

After two years, Al-Qaeda’s leaders detained in Abu Gharib prison escaped mysteriously and safely crossed the border to Syria. According to Iraqi Minister of Justice Hussein al-Shumari, the Iraqi security authorities aided and abetted the mass escape. 

In 2014, Nour al-Malki, the then Iraqi Prime Minister, ordered the Iraqi army to withdraw from Mosul and abandon it to ISIS fighters, who also seized hundreds of millions of US dollars and huge amounts of weaponry and ammunition. The Iraqi parliament, holding al-Malki accountable for the outrageous withdrawal of the Iraqi army, called for his trial.

The Iranian-ISIS clandestine ties were also underlined by Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi. The name of Iran was nowhere in several speeches he gave to attack different Muslim countries. In the meantime, ISIS fighters were ordered not to overstep the line if they came close to the Iranian-Iraqi borders. Likewise, ISIS fighters are strictly instructed to avoid military engagements with the Syrian army of President Bashar Assad. 

Iran and ISIS are also sharing identical visions as follows:

-          Walking in the footsteps of Iran, ISIS fighters are attacking civilians in Arab and Muslim countries, bombing mosques; and condemning Muslim regimes as Kafir (blasphemous).

-          Like Teheran, ISIS repudiates the religious legitimacy of political  regimes in Arab and Muslim states.

A close investigation into the development of the military operations in Iraq has revealed that the war of terror ISIS waged in this Arab country was limited to Sunni-dominated cities and towns, such as Anbar, Ramadi and Fallujah. ISIS fighters did not attempt to sweep across the Iraqi southern cities of Karbala or Najaf, in which the Shi’a are the majority. Nor did ISIS fighters overstep the red line by attacking the capital Baghdad.

Also, Sunni population displacement  in ISIS-held cities was part of demographic changes planned by Teheran in Iraq.

c- Iran’s relationship with Iraq’s Public Mobilisation

The American occupation of Iraq distracted the world’s attention away from the Iranian expansionist policies in this Arab country. Over years, Iran managed to establish itself as the major playmaker in Iraq by forming militarized ‘Shi’a pockets’, which developed into armed militias loyal to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

Since the Iranian Islamic revolution in 1979, Iran has succeeded in forming more than 60 armed militias. They tucked their heads under the wing of Public Mobilisation. Paradoxically, the extraordinary armed militia, which is allegedly comprised of all population components in Iraq to support the Iraqi army in its war against ISIS, is accused of committing brutal killings and massacres against Sunni Iraqis in ISIS-held cities. The Public Mobilisation is commanded by Gen. Qasem Solemani, commander of Iran’s Quds Force, a division primarily responsible for extraterritorial military and clandestine operations. Solemani-led Public Mobilisation was supported by Shi’a Badr militias commanded by Hadi al-Amri, who fought on the side of the Iranians, as part of the Badr Brigade, during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988).  

The Human Rights Watch reported that the Public Mobilisation, in collaboration with Shi’a Badr militias, forced hundreds of thousands of panic-stricken Sunni Iraqi families in the city of Diyala to  leave their homes.  The displaced families were banned from returning their homes after Iraqi army freed their cities from ISIS occupation. In its reports, HRW also disclosed brutalities and atrocities the Sunni Iraqis experienced at the hands of the Public Mobilisation.

The Public Mobilisation is also said to be aiming at seizing  oil-rich Kirkukn to kill the Kurds’ dream of independence from Iraq.

Suspicions over the future role of the Public Mobilisation in Iraq were reinforced by Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi. In his capacity as the General Commander of the Iraqi army, al-Abadi issued a decree declaring the Public Mobilisation an independent military division. Thanks to al-Abadi’s controversial decision, the Public Mobilisation surmounted constitutional hurdles in this respect. The Iraqi constitution bans the formation of armed militias independent from the Iraqi army.

Sources close to the office of the Iraqi Prime Minister  are maintaining that al-Abadi, who is leading a chaotic and instable country, gave in to pressure by the Public Mobilisation’s commanders.  

Observers are warning that the Public Mobilisation in Iraq is walking in the footsteps of Hezbollah militias in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen.

Referring to the complicated and chaotic political map in Iraq; and the overlapping and clashing alliances of its political parties, these observers nominated the Public Mobilisation for having a bigger influence in the post-ISIS Iraq.

It was the anti-ISIS war in Iraq, which triggered a mixed reaction over the role of the Public Mobilisation in this tragedy. On the one hand, Iran and its Shi’a lobbyists in Iraq  are given this armed militia credit for ending ISIS occupation of Iraqi cities. On the other hand, the Public Mobiliation is strongly condemned for atrocities it committed against Sunni people in Iraq.

Bearing in mind the experience of Hezbollah in Lebanon, observers are deeply concerned that the Public Mobilisation is being groomed to be the major political and military force in Iraq.

Iran-led demographical war in Iraq

Demographic changes are brewing in Iraq. Teheran is the major playmaker in the enhancement of this dilemma, which is also provoked by its cultural, political and ideological lobbyists. According to Teheran-planned conspiracy in this regard, Sunni citizens are relegated to a second-class category; and Sunni-dominated areas are denied of public resources, healthcare, education and services.  Injustices being done to Sunni families in Iraq would bring about frustrated generations, whose members would revengefully throw themselves in the embrace of militant groups. 

Parallel to forced displacements, Iran, in collaboration with its political, cultural and ideological allies, are fuelling religious and civil wars in Iraq to destroy the social fabrics in this country.

The absence of a comprehensive and unified Arab strategy has offered Iran the opportunity to expand demographic changes in different Arab states by destroying the national armies; and replace them with armed militias pledging their loyalty to ayatollahs in Teheran. Iran is confident that this strategy would help expand its Shi’a project far and wide in the Arab region. 

Iran-led demographic changes in Iraq are based on several factors as follows:

-Limiting the flames of civil wars to Sunni areas; and keeping Shi’a regions safe from instability and terrorism. During the US occupation of Iraq, Iran-linked allies were neutralized; Sunni areas alone witnessed military confrontations against the American occupation troops. As a result, Sunni residents were forced to leave their homes and flee the war zones.

-Mobilising its armed militias to terrorise Sunni Arabs living in towns close to the Iranian borders, such as Diyali. Teheran-linked militias launched mass crackdown on Sunni people, undermined their mosques and destroyed their agricultural land. The Sunni families were banned from returning to their homes after ISIS was dismissed from Iraqi cities of Mosul, Salahuldin, Ramadi and Diyali.

The success of Iran-led demographic changes will have disastrous impact not only on Iraq but also on the entire region.

Conclusion

Militant groups and armed militias are serving Iran’s interests and its expansionist policy in Iraq. It is apparent that in the absence of international policy of deterrence, Iran has found it safe and effective to expand its terrorist activities across the world.

Gen. Solemani defiantly declared that the exportation of the Iranian Islamic Revolution was in full swing in Bahrain, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen and even North Africa.

It has been clear that Iran has established itself defiantly as the chief sponsor of global terrorism. Reports concluded by international institutions and organisations, including the UN, have substantially discovered that Iran is providing terrorist groups across the world with military, logistic and intelligence assistance.

Substantial accusations against the Iranians should prompt the international community and the victims to refer Teheran to the international criminal court. In the meantime, the Iraqi people should receive support and help to preserve the sovereignty and Arab identity of their country.