Iran arms exports to Iraq tolerated in fight against Isis says report
A bulletin from the Expediency Council, a state body chaired by influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has offered rare insight into Iran’s strategic thinking over Iraq. The report, from the council’s Centre for Strategic Research, entitled Concerns about Iraq and Considerations for the Future, has not been widely publicized. The author, Hassan Ahmadian, is an […]A bulletin from the Expediency Council, a state body chaired by influential former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, has offered rare insight into Iran’s strategic thinking over Iraq. The report, from the council’s Centre for Strategic Research, entitled Concerns about Iraq and Considerations for the Future, has not been widely publicized. The author, Hassan Ahmadian, is an analyst at the council.
One “positive event of major importance” highlighted by Ahmadian is the west’s acceptance of Iranian weapons sales to Iraq insofar as they contribute to the broader struggle against the Islamic State group (Isis), despite a United Nations embargo on Iranian arms exports. But the report also warns that a weakening of Isis will lead the west one again to question Iran’s role.
