Iran's Activities and Influence in Iraq

Abstract

Iran's influence in Iraq has hindered, but not derailed, U.S. efforts to stabilize Iraq, and has heightened the U.S. threat perception of Iran more generally. With the conventional military and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) threat from Saddam Hussein removed, Iran's strategy in Iraq has been to perpetuate domination of Iraq's government by pro-Iranian Shiite Islamists, while also developing leverage over the United States by aiding Shiite militias that are willing to combat U.S. forces. Iran is materially assisting and influencing major Shiite Muslim factions in Iraq, most of which have ideological, political, and religious ties to Tehran. The Shiite faction of paramount concern to the Administration is that of Moqtada Al Sadr, whose Mahdi Army militia has periodically battled U.S. and Iraqi government forces, although it is currently relatively quiescent. This report will be updated. See CRS Report RL32048, "Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses," by Kenneth Katzman.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 22, 2008
Accession Number
ADA486502

Entities

People

  • Kenneth Katzman

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Border Security
  • Chemical Weapons
  • Elections
  • Explosively Formed Penetrators
  • Governments
  • Iran Iraq War
  • Iraqi-War
  • Military Operations
  • Security
  • Terrorists
  • Training
  • United States
  • War
  • Warfare
  • Weapons
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Readers

  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.