IranU.S.: Iran using war against ISIS to gain dominance in Iraq
Director of the CIA John Brennan said Sunday that Qassem Suleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, has been “very aggressive and active” in advising Shia militias against Islamic State. The active role Suleimani has assumed in directing Iraqi forces against the Islamic State is complicating the U.S. mission against terrorism and contributing to destabilization in Iraq, he said. Brennan’s comments are among the strongest so far voiced by American officials about the involvement of the influential Suleimani in the war against the Islamist group. Last week, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, general Martin Dempsey said the United States was increasingly worried that Shia militiamen, under Iranian guidance, would eventually turn against Sunni and Kurdish Iraqis, further destabilizing the country.
Director of the CIA John Brennan said Sunday that Qassem Suleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force, has been “very aggressive and active” in advising Shia militias against Islamic State.
The active role Suleimani has assumed in directing Iraqi forces against the Islamic State is complicating the U.S. mission against terrorism and contributing to destabilization in Iraq, he said.
The Guardian reports that Brennan’s comments on Fox News Sunday are among the strongest so far voiced by American officials about the involvement of the influential Suleimani in the war against the Islamist group.
Brennan described Suleimani as being “very aggressive and active” as he advises Shiite militias battling ISIS, mostly recently in the ongoing offensive targeting Tikrit, Saddam Hussein’s hometown.
Brennan said he “wouldn’t consider Iran an ally right now inside Iraq.”
At a congressional hearing last week, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, general Martin Dempsey, said that the United States was increasingly worried that Shia militiamen, under Iranian guidance, would eventually turn against Sunni and Kurdish Iraqis, further destabilizing the country.
Brennan, though, said he did not believe the presence of Soleimani and his advisers pointed to Iran having a larger role in Iraq and its future. He acknowledged, though, that Iran was trying to achieve such a role, as Iraq’s Shia-led government has forged increasingly closer ties with Iran.
“We’re not letting them play that role. I think they’re working with the Iraqis to play that role,” Brennan said.
Brennan said the responsibility for Iraq’s current sorry state resided with the Iraqis themselves, and was not the direct result of the pullout of U.S. troops. Iraqi security forces collapsed in the face of ISIS’s offensive last summer, and the Islamists now hold a third of Iraq and neighboring Syria.
“I think the fault really lies with a number of the Iraqis who wasted and squandered the opportunity they had after the government was reconstituted not to put at rest some of these sectarian tensions and not to be more inclusive as far as bringing the Sunni community in,” Brennan said.
