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The documents reveal: this is how Iran took control of Iraq Israel today

2019-12-07T14:18:59.673Z


the Middle East


A New York Times investigation shows how Iranian intelligence managed to plant its loyalists in Iraqi military and politics • During the fighting in ISIS, Tehran plotted against the US

  • Quds Force Commander of Revolutionary Guards Kasim Suleimani Visits Iraq // Photo: Reuters

Hundreds of documents published by the New York Times and the Intercept website reveal the extent of Iranian intelligence in Iraq and the ways in which the Iranians established a network of top-level collaborators in the Baghdad administration.

In the analysis of 700 documents, it was claimed that the Iranians were able to place their peacekeepers in senior positions to a level where entire institutions in the country removed from Tehran's leadership. The documents, all from the period 2014-2015, reveal that the Iranians were able to gain access to US intelligence sources and even spy on US forces in the country, in the midst of the fight against ISIS.

According to the publication, every prime minister and minister in the Iraqi cabinet underwent a comprehensive background check by Revolutionary Guards and headed by Quds Force, Qasim Suleimani, and only after being approved by Iranian intelligence and Suleimani himself were appointed. According to the documents, the Iranians used Quds Force agents of the Revolutionary Guards, mostly Iraqi civilians, to take over the Ministry of Intelligence and Home Security.

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The uncovered documents, a long line of telegrams between Tehran operatives and senior officials in the Iraqi regime, reveal conversations in which senior Iraqi officials promise sensitive intelligence to Tehran operators.

An Iranian Iraqi telegram intercepted says "Iran's policy in Iraq has allowed Americans to return to Iraq with greater legitimacy." "Organizations and groups that have previously fought against Americans among Sunnis now wish that not only an American, but even Israel, would enter Iraq and rescue her from the grip of Iran," the Iraqis warned.

Some of the screens reveal that content from closed meetings held by American officials with their Iraqi counterparts has routinely been passed on to Iranians. For example, one of the intelligence files reveals that a senior political aide who was the chairman of the Iranian parliament worked as an Iranian agent.

Another document describes how a person who used to serve as a CIA agent for a period of time, nicknamed "Donnie Brasco," offered to sell Iran valuable information, including the location of CIA offices in Baghdad, details of the weapons training and surveillance provided by the agency, and even other Iraqi names Spiegello for the US.

An examination of all the documents reveals that the Iranian influence in Iraq began to be built as early as 2003, days after the US invasion of the divided country. Tehran gained much greater access with the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq in 2011, then, according to The Times, locals working for the CIA "were abandoned and left jobless."

Militant fighters loyal to Iran in northern Iraq // Photo: Reuters

One correspondence reveals a conversation between a senior source at the US Intelligence Agency in Iraq, which revealed to the Iranians a large part of the US intelligence networks in Iraq, in exchange for $ 20,000 and a new car received from its operators. This is a huge breach of US intelligence in the country and a huge achievement from Iraq.

The Times and Intercept have confirmed the veracity of the documents, but do not know who is behind the leak. In an encrypted message, which came with the documents, the leaker wrote that he "wants the world to know what Iran is doing in Iraq." "The documents show how aggressively Tehran has worked to integrate itself into Iran's affairs, as well as the special role of General Qassem Suleimani (Iranian Revolutionary Guards Head, YH)," the Times wrote.

Protest fuel

While it is no secret that Tehran has huge influence in Shiite rule in Baghdad, the extent of control of the Iraqi Revolutionary Guards and the depth of Iran's agents' entry into the Iraqi political system that the Americans established after the 2003 invasion of Iraq may serve as a backbone to the Iraqi protest movement.

More than 300 people were killed in demonstrations across Iraq and more than 5,000 were injured as hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite youths protested both the economic and corruption situation in the country and, increasingly, Iran's involvement in the country.

Demonstrator during Iranian Consulate Ignition in Karbala // Photo: IP

The public outrage, specifically among the Shi'ite community, over Tehran's control of local politics was manifested in a series of attacks on Iranian institutions across Iraq, including the Iranian consulate in the holy city of Shi'ite Karbala,

According to evidence from Iraq, Iran itself was determined to suppress the protest and, besides using its militia in the country to shoot, run and arrest protesters, snipers and special forces of the Revolutionary Guards arrived in Iraq to assist the local police in suppressing the protest.

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2019-12-07

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