Conflicts & War

4 decades after Saddam Hussein’s invasion, Iran is in Iraq

By Nawar Alrikabi

Baghdad, Sept 22 (efe-epa).- Forty years after late dictator Saddam Hussein attacked Iran starting the Gulf War, Iraq has been dragged into the conflicts of the Persian country, with its shadow cast on institutions, economy and the territories of the oil-rich country.

For Iraq, it was the beginning of successive conflicts the gripped the country, which became a fighting arena for the foreign powers, mainly Iran.

The weakness of the Iraqi institutions made them more vulnerable to the influence of pro-Iranian political parties, religious figures and businessmen.

From electricity to pilgrims, they all come from Iran.

“Most of the political class has strong political relations with the Iranian side. The problem is that every country seeks out its interests in Iraq,” political analyst Watheq al-Jabery told Efe.

But the influence is not limited to the internal sphere.

The axes of Iran’s conflicts, whether with the United States or with the Persian Gulf countries and its ambition for expansion have left Iraq in the middle of its neighbor’s conflicts.

The climax of the Iranian-US conflict on Iraqi soil came earlier this year when a selective airstrike by the US forces killed Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani near the Baghdad international airport.

“The inclusion of Iraq in international and regional conflicts is the negative aspect in the nature of Iraq’s engagement in international relations, whether with Iran or America or with the Gulf states and others,” al-Jabery added.

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