Iran brokers behind-the-scenes deal for pro-Tehran government in Iraq

[Donald Ian Rankin]

From the Guardian: "Exclusive: Fears over Iran's influence after secret talks involving Syria, Hezbollah and the highest authorities in Shia Islam"


Iran has brokered a critical deal with its regional neighbours that could see a pro-Tehran government installed in Iraq, a move that would shift the fragile country sharply away from a sphere of western influence.

The Guardian can reveal that the Islamic republic was instrumental in forming an alliance between Iraq's Nouri al-Maliki, who is vying for a second term as prime minister, and the country's powerful radical Shia cleric leader, Moqtada al-Sadr.

The deal – which involved Syria, Lebanon's Hezbollah and the highest authorities in Shia Islam – positions Maliki as a frontrunner to return as leader despite a seven-month stalemate between Iraq's feuding political blocs.

It also positions Iran as a potent buffer to US interests at a time when America is looking to change its relationship with Iraq from military overlords to civilian partners.


More at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/17/iraq-government-iran-tehran-deal

[zipplewrath]

1. Iranian ally, Turkey's threat

I've said it for years, the BEST case scenario for Iraq had us creating a stable democratic country that was a friendly ally for Iran, and mildly threatening to Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. That was the BEST. The more likely result was a marginally stable democracy, more on the order of Turkey itself, that found itself in various "bordern skirmishes" with Turkey, in constant conflict with border and oil drilling issues with Kuwait and Saudi Arabai, and very friendly with Iran. Worst case scenarios had a democratic government on the order of Egypt or Pakistan, that in a civil war with itself, predominately in the Kurdish north, that spills over into Turkey, and to some extent Syria, and leverages Iran as an ally against the Kurds. We will get stuck "defending" Kuwait and Saudi Arabia from elements of the civil war in Iraq and ultimately having to leave the "Green Zone" entirely, including our new Embassy.

Now, which one of these was worth the price of men, money, and innocent Iraqi lives, not to mention creating "Al Queda in Iraq"?