الثلاثاء، 27 ديسمبر 2016

Iran brutalizing Aleppo, executing ‘most atrocious war crimes’ of 21st century

“The fact is that Aleppo has been occupied by the IRGC and its mercenaries,” says the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran, or MEK, the largest opposition group to the Islamic mullahs who rule Iran. “Mass executions, preventing the transfer of the civilians, including women and children, [and] attacking the civilians has all been done by the forces of the mullahs’ regime.”

The MEK says in its report provided to The Washington Times that the Corps has amassed an army of 25,000 Iranian and militia troops in and around the burned and cratered Aleppo. These include homegrown Syrian mercenaries who receive cash transferred from Tehran to Damascus.

Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which includes MEK, said Tehran’s actions show a “complicity in the most atrocious war crimes and crimes against humanity in the 21st century.”

The U.N. puts the overall death toll in Syria’s civil war at 400,000. More than 30,000 have died in the Battle of Aleppo, a last urban rebel holdout against President Bashar Assad’s regime.

“The blood for these atrocities are on their hands,” President Obama said last week of Iran, Russia and the Syrian regime.

For more than a decade, the MEK has established a good track record of accurately reporting misdeeds by Tehran, including its attempts to hide nuclear weapons-related facilities from U.N. inspectors.

In this case, the MEK has relied on its spying network inside the IRGC and the regime to cobble together a picture of Iran’s deep military involvement in keeping Mr. Assad in power.

With its growing military presence in Syria and Iraq via militias, plus its influence among Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Houthi fighters in Yemen, Iran is on a path to expand its goal of hegemony over the Middle East.

The Institute for the Study of War, a nonprofit research group in Washington, has reported that Iran organized thousands of Shiite militias in Iraq not only to fight the Sunni Muslim Islamic State there, but also to deploy them to fight rebels in Aleppo.

The Times recently interviewed Iranian dissidents who had escaped to Western Europe. They said Iran’s brutality at home and aboard has increased, not decreased, since the landmark nuclear deal with the U.S. that provided Tehran billions of dollars.

The MEK report provided to The Times says that Syrian government forces are scarce around Aleppo, meaning it is Iran doing the lion’s share of offensive maneuvers and killings.

The United Nations has approved putting monitors in Syria to try to protect innocents fleeing Aleppo. Such exits in the past have seen evacuation convoys attacked and even bombed.

The MEK said the attacks are the work of Iran.

“On two occasions the transfer of Aleppo residents were hindered and their buses were fired upon under the instructions of the IRGC to gain concessions on the residents [of] al-Foua and Kefraya,” said the MEK, referring to two towns north of Aleppo.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s air force has conducted bombing runs over Aleppo that indiscriminately killed civilians, according to human rights groups. Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican, calls Mr. Putin a “thug” and a “murderer.”

“President Obama’s Syria policy continues to offer gruesome proof of Einstein’s definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” Mr. McCain said in September.

The MEK report on Syria identifies Iranian leaders in Aleppo, the locations of bases, the foreign militias doing the killing and how Iran pays them.

The MEK intelligence report states:

• The IRGC established a headquarters at Fort Behuth, 20 miles south of Aleppo. Lebanese Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group, also commands its fighters at Behuth. Mr. Assad had used the garrison as a center for production of chemical weapons, ammunition and missiles. There are satellite facilities nearby that Iran is using to produce missiles. MEK provided a Google Earth photo.

• The Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign terrorist group, is leading Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistani militias. The Iraqis are part of the Popular Mobilization Front made legal by the Shiite-led government in Baghdad. Among them are groups that killed nearly 500 U.S. service members during the first Iraq war. They have permanent bases, including one near the Damascus airport.

• IRGC Brigadier Gen. Seyed Javad Ghafari commands the Quds Force’s Aleppo offensive. His boss, IRGC and Quds commander Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, who directed the killing of Americans in Iraq, recently was leading Guard forces in Aleppo. Iran controls 25,000 fighters in and around Aleppo.

• In one transaction, Iran transferred $860,000 dollars to the Iranian Martyr Foundation in Damascus to pay Syrian mercenaries. MEK provided what it says are the original messages arranging the payment.

“There is no doubt that the Iranian regime is the primary obstacle to any solution in Syria,” said Shahin Gobadi, MEK’s spokesman in Paris. “The current situation in Aleppo and the role of the Iranian regime in the atrocities committed on the ground require the immediate expulsion of the IRGC and its mercenaries from Syria. By meddling in other countries, the mullahs try to cover up their vulnerability at home. The survival of the regime has been intertwined with maintaining the Assad dictatorship in power in Syria.”

State Department spokesman John Kirby was asked Monday whether the U.S. will protest to the U.N. Security Council the fact that Gen. Soleimani has been spotted in Aleppo. The U.N. has banned him from international travel for his role in terrorism.

“We do intend to consult with our partners on the Security Council about how to address our concerns with this,” Mr. Kirby said. “We’ve long said that Iran needs to choose whether it’s going to play a positive role in helping peacefully resolve conflicts such as in Syria or whether it will choose to prolong them. And you’re absolutely right: His travel is a violation.”

Jim Phillips, a Middle East expert at The Heritage Foundation, said that Mr. Assad’s army is depleted and stretched thin protecting government-held territory.

“Without Iran’s expanding military intervention, the Assad regime would have fallen months ago,” Mr. Phillips said. “While Russia’s military intervention has dominated media coverage on Syria, Iran has been responsible for almost all of the ground offensives in recent months that clawed back territory from the rebels and encircled Aleppo. It has deployed thousands of Revolutionary Guards.”

Iran’s Fars News Agency has filed several reports this week telling of glorious victories in Syria. It reports that people it calls “militants” are surrendering in Aleppo and other towns to the Syrian army.

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/dec/20/iran-brutalizing-aleppo-executing-most-atrocious-w/

How Iran actually lost in Aleppo

Evidence of Iranian victory in Aleppo. But what is the truth?

Read it in the paper of H. Alavi

December 26, 2016

How Iran actually lost in Aleppo

By Heshmat Alavi

Following a historic period of perseverance, Syrian rebels and their families were forced to evacuate eastern Aleppo after its liberation back in 2012. An unjust, intense war was launched upon Aleppo by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and its proxy forces on the ground: Russia with its indiscriminate air strikes, and a lame-duck Syrian army of less than 20,000 deployable forces.

After more than 15 months continuous air raids and a long-lasting inhumane siege, Syrian rebels and civilians sealed an international agreement to depart Syria’s once economic and cultural hub.

In the past few weeks widespread bombing campaigns continued relentlessly on civilian areas. No Aleppo hospital was spared. The IRGC and its foot-soldiers, numbering at the tens of thousands, spearheaded the military of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad in horrific mass executions of innocent people. The United Nations reported 82 individuals, including women and children, were murdered on the spot in the streets and in their homes. God knows how many more incidents have gone unreported.

The amazing perseverance shown by Aleppo locals for years now in the face of atrocious airstrikes and artillery shelling is unprecedented to say the least. Amidst all this, the silence and inaction seen from the West, especially the United States, will remain forever a source of shame.

Conflict of Interests

In the pro-Assad camp there are three decision-makers. First Russia, second Iran, and third the Syrian regime. The role played by Assad and his military in such scenes is next to nothing.

The West and Turkey became frantic for a ceasefire in Aleppo in the early days of the war due to the negative public opinion resulting from shocking crimes. They sought to have the rebels and remaining civilians transferred to other Syrian opposition controlled areas.

On December 13th, Washington and Moscow reached what can be described a ceasefire agreement. Intense negotiations between Turkey and Russia were started afterwards, resulting in an agreement between the Syrian opposition with Russia and Turkey to evacuate Aleppo. Practically, the parties involved in the talks were Aleppo representatives and Russia, hosted by Turkey. All necessary preparations were made to begin evacuating the city from the morning of Wednesday, December 14th.

However, Iran disrupted this agreement and the IRGC hindered the evacuation process. It was crystal clear Russia and Iran were pursuing different objectives and sets of interests. Iran sought not to have Aleppo evacuated but to exterminate all Syrian rebels and civilians.

Twenty-four hours later, pressure from the international community forced the implementation of the Russia-Syrian rebel agreement on December 15th. On the morning of that day the first convoy carrying the wounded exited Aleppo, only to face roadblocks imposed by Iran-backed forces and the Assad military.

Iran raised certain conditions for the evacuation. Russia later threatened to airstrike any party hindering the evacuation, an obvious warning to Iran. Tehran was forced to wind back under Moscow pressure.

As a result, the last phase of this war and the method chosen to evacuate Aleppo was a defeat for Iran and a victory for the Syrian opposition. Especially since the conflict of interest between Iran/Assad and Russia became crystal clear. Politically speaking, Iran has become a secondary party in Syria.

“For Putin, a political settlement now makes sense. Staying involved in an ongoing insurgency does not. But for that, he needs the opposition -- which is fractured -- to accept a political outcome, and there is little prospect of that so long as Assad remains in power,” as explained by Dennis Ross, who served as the Director of Policy Planning in the State Department under President George H. W. Bush, the special Middle East coordinator under President Bill Clinton, and was a special adviser for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia (which includes Iran) to the former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Is this the end?

The turn of events does not spell the end of the Syrian opposition. The opposition controls large swathes of Syria, with areas over ten times larger than Aleppo and millions of residents. Idlib Province has at a three million strong population; the western coast of the Euphrates in the Turkish border, recently liberated by the Free Syrian Army from Daesh (ISIS/ISIL); large portions of Deraa Province neighboring Jordan; a strategically important section in the north in Latakia Province on the Turkish border; large portions of areas in the Damascus vicinity and large portions in the Aleppo vicinity.

In contrast to Western mainstream media reporting, the Syrian opposition enjoys the capability to rise once again.

Despite all its differences, a comparison made to the Iran-Iraq War may help. In 1986, Iran made significant advances taking control over the Faw peninsula in southern Iraq. Western media and think-tanks all forecasted further advances by Iran and a defeat for Iraq. In 1988 Iran was forced into a U.N.-brokered ceasefire agreement.

Deep divisions between the Syrian nation and the Assad regime have reached the point of no return. Nearly 500,000 have been killed and more than half of the Syrian population displaced. The Syrian nation will never accept the continuation of this regime. Despite sporadic military advances, Assad has no place in Syria’s future.

Where Iran stands in Syria

Iran will not be the final victor in Syria.

First -- For Iran, it is vital to maintain Assad in power. His fall will mark the end of Iran’s crusades in Syria. Even if the Syrian opposition becomes weaker, the overall crisis will continue while Assad remains in power. Assad is no longer acceptable in the international stage with an international consensus over his resort to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Second -- While Iran is financing and providing the ground forces, in this war, it no longer enjoys the first and final word. Russia calls the shots now with stark differences in interest, as seen in Aleppo.

Trump’s America

U.S. President Barack Obama’s weak foreign policy, especially the failed engagement with Iran, prolonged the Syrian crisis, allowed Tehran to take advantage, Russia to take the helm and America be sidelined.

Where will developments lead with Donald Trump in the White House? What will be the new U.S. foreign policy vis-à-vis Syria, Iran and the Middle East? How can we define Washington’s relationship with Moscow, and what practical measures will Trump take against Daesh (ISIS/ISIL)? Time will tell.

Good relations between the U.S. and Russia will at least not have a negative impact on the region, and this is good news for the Syrian opposition. Russia has weighable interests in Syria. However, what will Trump do with Iran? Considering Trump’s harsh tone on Iran to this day, far more positive outcomes can be forecasted for the Syrian opposition.

Second, Trump and secretary of state nominee Rex Tillerson have the potential of eventually convincing Russia to provide concessions. This is not in Iran’s interests, as Tehran remembers Russia ditching Libyan the dictator Muammar Qaddafi.

Lesson learned in Syria

For 16 years America has failed to adopt a correct policy in the Middle East despite having huge opportunities to make significant changes. The 2003 war literally gift-wrapped Iraq to Iran, parallel to the highly flawed mentality of preferring Shiite fundamentalism to Sunni fundamentalism. This allowed Iran take full advantage of such failures and resulting voids.

Aleppo will be a short-lived success story for Iran. The tides are changing across the globe and Iran will no longer enjoy opportunities from West rapprochement. Understanding this very well, this is exactly why Tehran has resorted to such atrocities and sought to massacre all in Aleppo.

In contrast to how the U.S. handed Iraq in a silver plate to Iran, Russia never entered the Syria mayhem to hand it over to Iran. The roots of Aleppo remain in the hearts of all Syrians. As world powers, especially the U.S. and Russia review their future objectives, Iran will be the first and ultimate party to suffer.

After more than 15 months continuous air raids and a long-lasting inhumane siege, Syrian rebels and civilians sealed an international agreement to depart Syria’s once economic and cultural hub.

Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/12/how_iran_actually_lost_in_aleppo.html#ixzz4U1PcbgDj

الأحد، 25 ديسمبر 2016

النظام الايرانى لعب دور كبير فى خلق تنظيم داعش فى العراق لايجاد مبرر لقتل سنة العراق

مع تزايد التدخلات الايرانيه فى المنطقه السيد / ستروان ستيفنسون رئيس جمعية حرية العراق الاوروبى وممثل اسكتلندا السابق فى البرلمان الاوروبى ورئيس وفد البرلمانات للعلاقات مع ايران ورئيس مجلس ادارة جمعية اصدقاء ايران الحره فى حوار خاص

حوار مصطفي عماره

-النظام الايرانى لعب دور كبير فى خلق تنظيم داعش فى العراق لايجاد مبرر لقتل سنة العراق

-سياسة اوباما تجاه ايران كانت كارثيه وشجعت النظام الايرانى وهناك بوادر ايجابيه لاتخاذ الادارة الامريكيه الجديده سياسه اكثر تشددا تجاه ايران

-دعم المجلس الوطنى للمقاومه ما ترأسها السيدة مريم رجوي (Maryam Rajavi) ومنظمة مجاهدى خلق الايرانيه (MEK) هو السبيل لوقف تدخلات النظام الايرانى فى المنطقه

شهدت الفتره الماضيه انتقادات حاده للممارسات الخاصه بالنظام الايرانى الاستبداديه والتوسعيه سواء فى داخل ايران او خارجها ولم تقتصر تلك الانتقادات على المنطقه العربيه بل امتدت الى اوروبا ويعد السيد / ستراون ستيفنسون رئيس مجلس ادارة جمعية اصدقاء ايران حره ورئيس جمعية حرية العراق الاوروبى وعضو البرلمان الاوروبى السابق ورئيس وفد البرلمان للعلاقات مع العراق واحد من اشد المعارضين للنظام الاوروبى ولعب دورا كبيرا فى المحافل الدوليه فى فضح ممارسات الايرانى وفى اطار جهوده لفضح تلك الممارسات كان لنا معه هذا الحوار

-ماهو دورك فى دعم نضال المعارضه الايرانيه والقاء الضوء على ممارسات النظام الايرانى القمعيه ؟

بدا ارتباطى بالمعارضه الديمقراطيه منذ الايام الاولى بالبرلمان الاوروبى منذ اكثر من 177 عام حينها ادركت ان منظمة مجاهدى خلق الايرانيه والائتلاف السياسى للمجلس الوطنى للمقاومه تحت قيادة السيده مريم رجوى هى قوه ديمقراطيه حقا فهم لايريدون تحقيق مكاسب خاصه بهم ولكن يريدون الحريه والعداله للشعب الايرانى الذى تم قمعه بوحشييه من قبل النظام الايرانى كما ادركت ان النظام الايرانى ليس مجرد عدو للشعب الايرانى ولكن مشاغبا كبيرا فى المنطقه ومنذ مجئ اية الله الخومينى الى السلطه عام 1979 دعم العديد من المتطرفين الاسلاميين الذين اصبحوا مصدرا رئيسيا للارهاب وعدم الاستقرار فى الشرق الاوسط لذلك دعمنا مجاهدى خلق والتى تمثل الاسلام المتسامح الديمقراطى لمواجهة خطر النظام الايرانى وهى حركه تدافع حاليا عن السلام والامن فى منطقة الشرق الاوسط وجميع انحاء العالم ولذا فان الحكومات الديمقراطيه فى العالم عليها دعم المقاومه الايرانيه لان ذلك يساعد على تسليط الضوء على وحشية النظام الايرانى والذى يمثل المشهد الاول للسلام العالمى

-وهل لاقت الانشطه التى تقومون بها تجاوبا من الحكومه البريطانيه والحكومات الاوروبيه ؟

للاسف فان سياسة التهدئه التى اعتمدها الغرب فى مواجهة ايران بما فى ذلك الحكومه البريطانيه ساعدت النظام الايرانى على الاستفاده من تلك السياسه وتوجيه ضرباتها الى معارضيها وكان احد الامثله القائمه السوداء لمنظمة مجاهدى خلق الايرانيه والتى الغيت بعد الاحكام القضائيه فى اوروبا والمملكه المتحده مما اضطر تلك الحكومات الى شطب تلك القائمه

-وماهى امكانية مقاضاة المسئولين الايرانيين بتهمة ارتكاب الجرائم ضد الشعب الايرانى امام المحاكم الدوليه ؟

الحقيقه ان النظام الايرانى ارتكب خلال العقود الاربعه الماضيه اسوا وافظع نوع من القمع والديكتاتوريه ضد الشعب الايرانى وردا على تلك السياسات اجتمعنا بنجاح وبفضل الشعب الايرانى ومنظمة مجاهدى خلق قدمنا دليل على ان هذا النظام هو نظام القتل والقمع والتعذيب وهوالامر الذى يمكن عرضه على اى محكمه دوليه وعلى سبيل المثال فى عام 1988 ذبح النظام الايرانى اكثر من 30 الف من السجناء السياسيين بموجب اوامر صادره من مؤسس النظام الايرانى روح الله الخمينى نفسه وبفضل جهود السيده رجوى اصبحت هذه القضيه اساس حملة حقوق الانسان الدوليه الرئيسيه التى تهدف الى اجبار مرتكبى هذه الجرائم لمواجهة العداله فى المحاكم الدوليه وانا متفائل جدا بامكانية تقديم كبار المسئولين فى النظام الايرانى للمحاكمه على جرائمهم امام المحاكم الدوليه

-وهل تعتقد ان الادارة الامريكيه الجديده برئاسة ترامب سوف تزيد الضغط على النظام الايرانى خاصة فيما يتعلق ببرنامجها النووى ووقف ممارساته الاجراميه فى الداخل والخارج ؟

الحقيقه ان الاستراتيجيه التى اتبعها اوباما فى الشرق الاوسط استندت على سياسة التعامل لذلك قدم كل التنازلات الممكنه لايران سواء فى الملف العراقى او الاتفاق النووى معها فالاحداث المروعه التى تحدث الان فى سوريا هى مثال ساطع على سياسة اوباما الكارثيه ومن السابق لاوانه القول ان هناك تغييرا فى السياسه الامريكيه تجاه ايران ولكن على الاقل يمكننى ان اقول ان هناك فرصه اكبر لتبنى موقف اكثر تشددا بشان السياسات العدوانيه للنظام الايرانى فى المنطقه والداخل وسياسة القمع وانتهاكات حقوق الانسان التى تفرضها على الشعب الايرانى وهناك تخوفات من النظام الايرانى من تغيير تلك السياسه خاصة بعد تمديد قانون العقوبات على ايران لعشر سنوات اخرى من قبل الكونجرس الامريكى وهويمثل خطوه رئيسيه ضد هذا النظام

-بعد مشاركة رئيسة وزراء بريطانيا فى مؤتمر دول مجلس التعاون الخليجى هل ستلعب بريطانيا دورا هاما فى امن دول الخليج فى مواجهة ايران ؟

اعتقد ان هذا فى مصلحة بريطانيا ومن الطبيعى ان تسعى بريطانيا لتلعب دورا فى امن الخليج فى مواجهة ايران من اجل الحفاظ على مصالحها الاستراتيجيه وقد انعكس ذلك على اعلان دول الخليج العربى ورئيسة وزراء بريطانيا فى قمة دول مجلس التعاون الخليجى على التحالف فى مجال التجارة الاستراتيجى والامن والتزام بريطانيا للوقف مع دول الخليج فى مواجهة ايران واعلنت رئيسة وزراء بريطانيا فى كلمتها امام زعماء دول الخليج ان هذا التعاون يجب ان يستمر ضد الاطراف التى تسعى الى زعزعة الاستقرار فى المنطقه وشددت ايضا فى كلمتها انها تدرك تماما تهديدات ايران لمنطقة الخليج والشرق الاوسط باكمله وبالتالى فانه يقع على عاتق بريطانيا العمل على منع سلوك ايران العدوانى فى المنطقه

-هناك تقارير عن مشاركة الحرس الثورى الايرانى مع الحشد الشعبى العراقى فى ذبح المدنيين فى المناطق السنيه فى الموصل والرمادى فما هو الدور الذى تلعبونه فى التصدى للمؤامره التى تستهدف اهل السنه فى العراق ؟

الحقيقه ان النظام الايرانى يستغل قضية داعش للقيام بعملية تطهير عرقى ضد السنه فى العراق وفى هذا الاطار كشفت التقارير ان رئيس وزراء العراق السابق نورى المالكى كان دميه للنظام الايرانى وسلم الموصل لداعش دون قتال كما افرج عن سجناء داعش من اجل تعزيز قوتهم العسكريه وقد عبر شيعة العراق عن كراهيتهم للمالكى خلال المظاهرات التى قاموا بها احتجاجا على تسليم الموصل لداعش وقد حاولت منذ عدة سنوات القيام بحمله لجعل الممجتمع الدولى يدرك الهدف الاستراتيجى الايرانى فى قمع اهل السنه واقامة نظام حكم فى العراق يكون دميه للنظام الايرانى وتوضيح الدور الايرانى فى اقامة داعش حتى تقدم المبرر لجميع جرائمها ضد اهل السنه فى الانبار وديالى صلاح الدين واستطعت من خلال جهودى منع ابادة اهل السنه من قبل النظام الايرانى

-وماهو دورك فى التصدى لجرائم الحرس الثورى الايرانى فى سوريا وخاصة فى منطقة حلب؟

ايران لعبت دورا كبيرا فى تدمير سوريا وقتل اكثر من نصف مليون سورى وتروح اكثر من نصف سكانها وهذه الجرائم اصبحت واضحه وضوح الشمس لجميع شعوب العالم المحبه للسلام ونحن نضع كافة جهودنا بالتنسيق مع الاخرين للضغط على المنظمات الدوليه للاعتراف بحق الشعب السورى فى اسقاط الاسد والعمل على نصرة الشعب السورى والجيش السورى

-فى النهايه ماهو رايك فى افضل السبل لمواجهة مخططات النظام الايرانى فى المنطقه ؟

يجب ان توضح الخطط للاطاحه بهذا النظام والذى لايمكن ان يتحقق الا بدعم المجلس الوطنى للمقاومه ومنظمة مجاهدى خلق لانها تمثل المعارضه المنظمه الرئيسيه التى يخشى منها النظام الايرانى وارى ان اهمال المعارضه الديمقراطيه الايرانيه سوف يزيد من تدخلات النظام الايرانى فى المنطقه

الاثنين، 19 ديسمبر 2016

What is Iran’s ‘national treasure’ in Iraq?

Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, as she confirmed the MEK that intervention of the Iranian regime in Iraq One hundred times more dangerous than a nuclear This model is no higher than intervention, but rather full control

What is Iran’s ‘national treasure’ in Iraq?

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently described Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a conglomerate of extremist Shiite militia groups, as the country’s “national treasure.”

This entire entity is believed to be comprised of mercenaries with bloody pasts of atrocious crimes, especially targeting the Sunni communities of Iraq and Syria.

“Iraq’s Shiite militias are becoming as great a danger as Daesh (ISIS/ISIL),” Phillip Smyth had said in his in-depth Foreign Policy piece back in 2014.

Iranian offspring

It is worth noting that the PMU is an offspring of the Iranian regime’s mentality and financial support. While first dubbed as a “short-term” fix to back the Iraqi military, the PMU refused to disband after Daesh suffered setbacks in central Iraq. Iran-backed militia leaders in Iraq demand the PMU be recognized as Iraq’s version of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, seeking a political/military role to undermine core Iraqi institutions, including the army and Ministry of Interior.

“PMU leaders were raised in the arms of Iran,” said PMU official Hamid al-Jaziri, as quoted by Iran’s state-run Mizan news agency. The PMU boasts of being a “state under the jurisdiction of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist [Khamenei], and does not recognize borders.”

Iraq has “endorsed [Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem] Soleimani with ‘all the powers,’” adding “the popular mobilization forces considers Soleimani a delegate of Khamenei in Iraq.” Soleimani, known for his significant role in the PMU’s foundation, is designated as a wanted “terrorist” by US authorities. Suleimani was also spotted in Aleppo during the recent massacre of civilians that shocked the world over.

Composition

The PMU is no grass-root organization, consisting of an alliance of numerous Iran-backed Shiite militia groups each with a horrific history of unspeakable crimes. The Badr Organization, Asaib al-Haq and Kata’ib Hezbollah are militias with deep ideological relations with Iran and records of waging deadly wars also against American troops during their stay in Iraq.

Over 50 Shiite militia groups are currently enrolling and luring troops from the Iraqi army and police, while embedding their ranks and files within the Iraqi government. Iran is developing and nurturing Iraq’s Shiite militias. From May 2013 onward Tehran has expanded and further empowered its network of such proxies to guarantee an ongoing stream of fighters for Syria.

Iran has purposefully established an array of different groups, depicting a portrait of vast popular support for Shiite militia promoting Tehran’s ideology and policies. This constellation is cloaking official Iraqi institutions, and paving the paths for lethal conflicts for decades to come.

As Shiite militias coat their armored hardware with images of Iranian regime founder Ruhollah Khomeini, rest assured the billion-plus Sunnis will have scores to settle.

Killings in Iraq

Back in June 2014, Iran-backed Shiite militias mass-executed over 250 prisoners, including minors. Amnesty International issued a report detailing Shiite militias’ extrajudicial summary executions on a regular basis. Reports even indicate Sunni inmates were murdered in government facilities.

The Asaib al-Haq is an active Iranian proxy group in Iraq, with roots going back to the 2003 Iraq war when its members splintered from the Mahdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr. Asaib gained a high level of infamy after kidnapping and executing American soldiers and British contractors. Asaib is known to dispatch many members to Syria and in 2014 take part in the massive assault against the Sunni communities of Anbar Province, who opposed then-Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, known for his very close ties to Iran.

Kataib Hezbollah militia is responsible for some of the most lethal attacks against US and coalition forces throughout the war. Both Asaib and Kataib have also been busy committing atrocities against the Sunnis, as such have long complained about Shiite fighters kidnapping and killing civilians, Reuters reported.

Ironically, the US under Obama reached the point of providing air cover for Iran’s Shiite militias in Iraq, while they committed “some of the worst human rights abuses on the planet.”

Sunnis are further pushed to the sidelines in Iraq due to US President Barack Obama’s premature withdrawal of American boots and wrong policies. The latest such example is seen in the Shiite majority Iraqi parliament granting legal status to the PMU, leaving the Sunnis outraged.

Shoring Assad in Syria

The PMU also has plans to take part in the atrocities against Syrian civilians to shore up Levant dictator Bashar Assad, following their push against Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) in Mosul, northern Iraq. Prior to this thousands of Iraqi Shiite militias were known to have been dispatched to Syria to fight for Assad.

“Iran’s most powerful proxies in Iraq have worked closely together to prop up the Assad regime in Damascus. Kataib Hezbollah and Badr formed the Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada ("The Master of the Martyrs Brigade," or KSS) in early 2013 to fight in Syria. KSS is led in part by Abu Mustafa al-Sheibani, a commander affiliated with both Badr and the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force,” reported Phillip Smyth in his Foreign Policy piece, ‘All the Ayatollah’s Men.’

“When the fighting erupted in our areas, we carried out some joint military operations side by side with the Syrian army to clean up areas seized by rebels,” said Abu Hajar, an Iraqi member of the Abu al-Fadhal al-Abbas brigade, formed by Iran and consisting of “500 Iraqi, Syrian and some other nationalities.”

"We have no clear battlefield, but, from time to time, we carry out raids with the army on the sites of the Free Syrian Army,” said another member, proving ISIS has never been the target of the pro-Assad camp.

Iran’s interest

The rise of such Iran-backed Shiite militias proves Tehran’s objective of dominating all of Iraq, Syria and beyond. These groups have shown they march only to Iran’s ideological tune, loyal only to Khamenei and his despotic perspective.

These Shiite militias share one very concerning characteristic with ISIS: not recognizing any internationally recognized borders and seeking to spread Tehran’s mantra of “Islamic Revolution.”

However, they have evolved to be far more dangerous than ISIS by exploiting Iraq’s so-called democratic system to pursue Iran’s political agenda in Mesopotamia, the Levant and forward. This has reached the point where they no longer answer to Baghdad, but to Tehran. This has been the unfortunate result of Obama’s engagement policy with Iran to safeguard his “legacy” Iran nuclear deal, at the cost of giftwrapping Baghdad to Tehran.

Iraq has reached the point where Iran’s deep threat has perpetuated sectarian conflict across the land, and Tehran is now calling on Washington to “leave Iraq to us.”

The new administration in Washington must recognize the fact that Iran-backed Shiite militias represent a clear and present danger to the entire region, and the world. Once Iraqi soil is rid of ISIS, this country is doomed to the abyss of sectarian conflict.

Iran-backed Shiite militias “represent enemies of a stable, secure, and inclusive Iraq,” and that once the ISIS threat is defeated, “they will very likely turn on us,” as explained by Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former Defense Intelligence Agency director and Donald Trump’s current nominee for national security advisor.

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not reflect Al Arabiya English's point-of-view.

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Heshmat Alavi is a political and rights activist. His writing focuses on Iran, ranging from human rights violations, social crackdown, the regime’s support for terrorism and meddling in foreign countries, and the controversial nuclear program.
He tweets at @HeshmatAlavi & blogs at IranCommentary

Last Update: Monday, 19 December 2016 KSA 12:40 - GMT 09:40

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الاثنين، 19 ديسمبر 2016

What is Iran’s ‘national treasure’ in Iraq?

What is Iran’s ‘national treasure’ in Iraq?

Iranian offspring

Composition

Killings in Iraq

Shoring Assad in Syria

Iran’s interest

الفشل الاستراتيجي والأفول الدامغ للنظام الإيراني في لبنان

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