Is Iran losing the Middle East?
That was the headline of an article dealing with the widespread protests in Iraq and Lebanon which at first sight seem to be directed at the bad domestic policies of the regimes in these countries but also are directed at the Iranian activities in both Iraq and Lebanon.
Although the protests in Lebanon and Iraq have already made their impact on some of the domestic policies of the Iraqi and Lebanese government, the Iranian project to turn Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria too into client states is only making progress and, as we will see, Iran will do everything, including the use of brutal force, to advance its plan to create a so-called Shiite crescent.
Let’s start with Iraq where since the beginning of October mass protests in the country – mostly in the south of Iraq and the capital Baghdad – have destabilized the regime to the point of collapse.
More than 330 people have been killed and 18.000 injured since the start of the popular protests against the regime of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who is a close ally of Iran, and against the creeping takeover of Iraq by the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps.
To get an idea how deeply Iran is embedded in Iraq one has only to read an expose that was published by The New York Timesand The Interceptand which was based on a trove of 700 pages of internal Iranian regime documents.
The authentic documents – many of them written by Iranian intelligence officials - were translated from Farsi into English and showed that the Iranian entrenchment in Iraq began after the American invasion in 2003.
The Iranians slowly infiltrated Iraq’s political establishment and intelligence services as well as the CIA branch in the country and later recruited a spy who was working in the US State Department.
The documents and cables reveal that the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has made great strides in expanding Iran’s influence over domestic politics in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon and that members of the IRGC were appointed ambassador to the three countries.
The Quds Force, led by its commander Qassem Soleimani, also focussed on cultivating warm ties with high-ranking officials in the countries which Iran wanted to turn into client states.
The vacuum in Iraq after the full withdrawal of the US army in 2011 was quickly filled not only by Islamic State but also by Iran the documents reveal.
The Iranian intervention resulted late 2014 in the establishment of the equivalent of the IRGC the al-Hashd al-Shaabi umbrella organization of predominantly Shiite militias which has become an integral part of the Iraqi army in 2017.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi is now heavily involved in stamping-out the current uprising which is currently also directed at ending Iranian influence over Iraq.
Protesters in Iraq are burning billboards with photos of the founder of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khomeini and have attacked offices in use by the Quds Force and an Iranian consulate to name a few incidents.
The documents published by NYT and The Intercept are a damning indictment of US policies in Iraq starting with the Bush Administration and later the Obama Administration which even tried to cooperate with Iran at the height of the battle with Islamic State.
In Lebanon protests first were aimed at the corrupt government of Saad Hariri who decided to resign.
Hezbollah, Amal and other Shiite groups then endorsed Mohammed Safadi a former finance minister for the task of Prime Minister but withdrew his candidacy after he faced opposition by political parties who are opposed to Iran’s meddling in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
The protests in Lebanon quickly became demonstrations against Hezbollah and its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and an expression of anger against Iran’s ever growing influence over the cedar country.
Then there is Syria where Iran continues its entrenchment and its military build-up unabated.
The Washington Insitute this week published an analysis documenting how “Tehran and its proxies have been exerting hard and soft power in northeast Syria, combining military consolidation with economic, social, and religious outreach in order to cement their long-term influence.”
Iran’s latest plan for Syria is to marginalizing the army of dictator Bashar al-Assad by giving the Iraqi militias of Hashd al-Shaabi unlimited freedom in operating in the country.
Soleimani’s forces already control 7 cities on the east bank of the Euphrates River in the Deir Ez-Zur Province and have a force of 4.500 fighters in the region who are in full control of military and civil affairs.
The various Shiite militias in northeast Syria now call themselves Syrian Hezbollah and are building military bases near the Iranian-built border crossing al-Bukamal on the Iraqi Syrian border.
The growing Iranian presence in eastern Syria has already resulted in frictions with Assad’s army and in armed clashes between the Iranian forces and Syrian army units.
Iran together with al-Hashd al-Shaabi are also exporting the Shia Islamic revolution to Syria by infiltrating the educational system and the social fabric of the Sunni Arab society there.
Schools and other institutes are forced to participate in religious and other Iranian organized events and receive in return financial aid.
The Quds Force also uses Iranian teachers to educate Syrians in the Farsi language and Iranian history.
Sunni clerics who refuse to cooperate and refuse to perform the Shia-way of prayers have been arrested while those who collaborate receive an increase in their wages.
Soleimani personally oversees the transformation of Syria into an Iranian client state and in July founded the Liwa Hurras al-Maqamat” (The Guardians of Holy Shrines Brigade), which must build and protect Shia Shrines in northeast Syria.
The author of the study by the Washington Insitute calls upon the US and its allies to support an uprising against the Iranians and their proxies and also calls for “forceful measures” such as airstrikes to thwart the Iranian entrenchment in this part of Syria.
Closer to Israel in the Daraa region south of the Golan Heights but also on the mountainous plateau, similar developments have been reported.
The Syrian Observer reported this week that angry Syrians in Daraa demanded the expulsion of Iranian militias from the region and the release of prisoners from prisons.
Unknown assailants also carried out armed attacks against checkpoints manned by the Shiite militias.
The attacks seemed to be a retaliation for a number of assassinations of Sunni leaders which are ascribed to the Quds Force and its Shiite militias.