'Welcome to Tehran' - how Iran took control of Basra

[ProSense]

'Welcome to Tehran' - how Iran took control of Basra

Britain has failed to stop southern Iraq falling into grip of militias

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Basra
Saturday May 19, 2007
The Guardian

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Then, amid cries of "Moqtada, Moqtada" and "Allahu Akbar", there were two thunderous explosions and a pair of Katyusha rockets streaked up into the sky. Their target would be the British base in Saddam Hussein's former palace compound. Their landing place could be anywhere in Basra, and was most likely to be a civilian home.

The men got back in their cars and drove away, and the children resumed their match.

"Since the British started deploying the anti-rocket magnetic fields our rockets are falling on civilians," Abu Mujtaba, the commander of the group of Mahdi army men told me later. The "magnetic fields" are the latest rumour doing the rounds of Basra's militias; another is that the British are shelling civilians to damage the reputation of the Mahdi army.

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"If the Prophet Muhammad would come to Basra today he would be killed because he doesn't have a militia," a law professor told me. "There is no state of law, the only law is the militia law."

The politician

His description of life in the city was echoed by Abu Ammar, once a prominent Basra politician. A secular technocrat, he had high hopes when the British first arrived more than four years ago. The city had been hit hard by Saddam's wars against Iran and Kuwait and he was optimistic that the occupation would bring democracy and prosperity.

But the rise of the militias has put paid to that, he said. Now he was too scared to talk in a hotel lobby and insisted we meet in my room.

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The general

One afternoon I went to meet a senior Iraqi general in the interior ministry. A dozen gunmen in military uniforms lay dozing as a junior officer led me through a maze of corridors padded with sandbags.

The general was on the phone to another officer when I entered. He was jokingly threatening the caller: "Shut up or I will send democracy to your town."
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The intelligence officer

In the living room of his modest Basra home, a senior military intelligence official, call him Samer, told me the militias could take control of the city in half an hour if they chose. Next to the sofa we sat on lay a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, a machine gun and couple of grenades. Samer had survived two assassination attempts.
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The Iranians

You can't move far in Basra without bumping into some evidence of the Iranian influence on the city. Even inside the British consulate compound visitors are advised not to use mobile phones because, as the security official put it ,"the Iranians next door are listening to everything".

In the Basra market Iranian produce is everywhere, from dairy products to motorcycles and electronic goods. Farsi phrase books are sold in bookshops and posters of Ayatollah Khomeini are on the walls.

But Iranian influence is also found in more sinister places. Abu Mujtaba described the level of cooperation between Iran and his units. His account echoed what several militia men in other parts of Iraq have told me.

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1. Kick! n/t

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2. In Iraq: Tehran is in the south and north, and the U.S. is bogged down in the middle

Iraqi Kurds split between Iran and US

By Roxana Saberi
Iraqi Kurdistan

Iraq's Kurds have found themselves in a delicate position since the US-led invasion of Iraq four years ago. They are trying to court good relations with their eastern neighbour Iran - without angering Washington.

This is a tricky balancing act because while Iraqi Kurds rely on the United States for protection, they also depend on Iran's goodwill to help maintain their economy and the relative stability they have been enjoying.

"The Americans helped us overthrow Saddam Hussein's regime so we respect them, but we're not indebted to them for everything," said Nasir Ghafoor Ramadan, a member of Iraqi Kurdistan's Regional Parliament.

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"This was a big mistake by the United States," he said. "There was no evidence that the Iranians were intelligence agents. Iran and the US should take their disputes elsewhere."

Mr Ramadan said Iraqi Kurds would benefit most by having friendships with both the United States and Iran.

He realises, however, that the United States has not ruled out launching a military strike on Iran over Iran's nuclear program. If America one day decides to make that move, it may turn to Iraqi Kurds for help.

Then the Kurds might be forced to choose between Washington and Tehran.

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