As ISIS’s control over Iraq is dwindling, American officials reveal that the Iranian Regime is preparing to fill the vacuum and create another crisis once ISIS is defeated.
Earlier this week, the oil-rich city of Kirkuk was taken over by Iran-backed Iraqi troops but they were not taking the area back from ISIS but the Kurds who had liberated it from ISIS in 2015.
Now the US military has to decide how to stop the Iranian Regime from turning its neighbour into a proxy state.
Iraq welcomed Iran’s help when ISIS began its attacks in 2014, but now the Iranian Regime is potentially stirring up a three-way civil war between Shias, Sunnis and Kurds with the US caught in the middle.
Indeed, even US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley weighed in on the severity of the threat.
On Wednesday, she said: “Nearly every threat to peace and security in the Middle East is connected to Iran’s outlaw behaviour.”
The Iranian Regime may even attempt to force the US to leave so that they can take control of the Middle East.
James Jeffrey, the former US ambassador to Iraq, said: “Now the Iranians are going to start demanding that we leave Iraq, that we leave Syria and the whole region becomes essentially a vassal state of theirs just like Lebanon has become.”
The head of the American forces in the Middle East issued a similar warning on Wednesday.
Army General Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command said: “Iran has expressed its desire to build a large influence both literally in developing the Tehran-Beirut axis, and figuratively by increasing military and political influence in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and other places around the region.”
However, the problem lies in the US needing the Iraqi government’s permission to stay in Iraq which may prove difficult given Iran’s control of the government.
This may be why Army Colonel Ryan Dillon- speaking from Baghdad- said he saw no evidence of Iranian influence in Kirkuk despite photos and videos of commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who maintains close ties to Iran, and Iranian Major General Qasem Soleimani, leader of Tehran’s proxy forces in the Middle East, taking part.
Soleimani’s presence was acknowledged by Haley as a violation of a UN Security Resolution.
She said: “[U.N. Security Council] Resolution 2231 … bans travel outside of Iran for senior Iranian officials, including Major General Soleimani, and yet the Secretary General’s report lists multiple press photos of the general travelling to Syria and Iraq. You can even find photos on social media of him visiting Russia. This is an open and direct violation of [resolution] 2231, and yet where is the outrage of this council?”
The question remains, what will Iranian regime do next?
Source » ncr-iran