Iran’s Influence Over Iraq and the Mosul Operation

There are numerous indications that Iranian government is eager either to dictate the course of the military operations against ISIL in Mosul, or not allow al-Abadi government, the US-led coalition, and the Iraqi Kurds to have a clean and easy victory over the forces of the ISIL. In this piece, it is argued that Iran is trying to manipulate the Iraqi government to impose the particular exclusionist regime for the post-ISIL Mosul, which had in fact contributed to the rise of ISIL in the first place. In addition, it is argued that Iran is behind the on-going diplomatic raw between Iraq and Turkey over the latter’s participation in the military operations in Mosul.