Iran and Iraq

[jonSlack]

Hussein Shobokshi - What About the Iranian Occupation?

"There are over 30,000 Iranians that belong to the Revolutionary Guards and intelligence services on the ground, not including those that are present under the umbrella of aid organizations or scientific hawzas as well as the thousands of Iranians who were given Iraqi citizenship and “placed” in sensitive, effective and influential positions. There are entire geographic regions in Iraq that are under complete Iranian influence, where Iran is the decision-maker. A number of political and strategic decisions are made only by Iranian coordination and instruction. There is, of course, the equipment, weapons and money coming from Iran to support the death-squads, which were established by prominent Iraqi government members and which were born from Iranian intelligence services."

[Mike in Hilo]

Not my intention to belittle the extent of Iranian influence in Iraq, just questioning the source...Strikes me that Sharq regularly espouses the Sunni (i.e., Shia-phobic--speaking politically, not theologically) viewpoint (correct me if I am wrong!) and so can be expected to take this line....Also, wonder from where the author got the 30K number.....Nevertheless, besides revelations about Iranian influence, the story and others in the paper lend some insights into what moderate Arab Sunnis are concerned about these days....

Cheers,
Mike.

[tequila]

The "Shark" is pretty good for an Arab paper, but as with all media (especially Arab, given the lack of anything like a disinterested party in the region) it pays to remember where the funding comes from --- Saudi Arabia, in this case. As we all know, SA has decided to play a much more obvious role in the region lately contra Iran.