U.S. Is Ramping Up Support In Iraq, But So Is Iran

NPR

ARUN RATH, HOST:

In his speech this week outlining the escalation of U.S. military operations to defeat the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, President Obama said America would expand the use of airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. He also talked about a renewed cooperation with Iraqi forces.

In an article in Foreign Policy, reporter Kate Brannen says the U.S. is not the only player there. Iran already has boots on the ground in Iraq. I asked Kate just how extensive Iran's reach is in the region.

KATE BRANNEN: In Iraq, they are openly providing weapons to both the Iraqi security forces and to Kurdish forces. They're providing intelligence. They're providing military advisers. So in many ways, it's similar to what the U.S. is doing. But there's evidence that they have a more hands-on role than the United States. And Iran is just a very influential player when it comes to Iraq and that continues in the fight against the Islamic State.

RATH: You write in your piece about a photograph that appeared showing Major General Qassem Suleimani, the leader of Iran's Quds Force from the Revolutionary Guard in Amerli, the city that was recently under siege by ISIS. What does that photo tell you?

BRANNEN: This was one of the pieces of evidence that Iran is playing a more hands-on role, might even be directing battle field movements and that he might have directed the Amerli operation on the ground. And this showed the very strange bed-fellows that the U.S. has as it fights the Islamic State in Iraq because to free Amerli from the siege from the Islamic State, U.S. airstrikes hit various Islamic State targets while Shiite militias, paired with the Iraqi security forces, did the ground operations with Major General Suleimani clearly having a hand in it. So it was a particularly noteworthy alliance that had formed in order to take back this town.

RATH: Kate, you also write about Iran's involvement in Syria. And going by the president's speech this week, it sounds like this is another country where Iran and the U.S. will be fighting a common enemy. But things get more complicated here because Iran is allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

BRANNEN: The State Department made clear this week that if the U.S. does strike in Syria, it will not be directed at Assad targets, you know, targets of the Syrian government, but that will be focused on the Islamic State. But at the same time, part of the president's strategy is to arm moderate Syrian rebel groups who are fighting both the Islamic State and the Assad regime.

Our indirect partnership with Iran becomes more complicated because in Syria, Iranian militias or volunteer paramilitary fighters and Hezbollah, which Iran supports, are fighting on behalf of the Assad regime, who we've made clear we have no intention of supporting and don't want to see him stay in power.

RATH: Kate, from your reporting, what is at stake for Iran here? Is ISIS is a threat to Iran? Or is this more about maintaining their influence in Iraq and beyond?

BRANNEN: Well, ISIS is a threat to the Assad regime certainly. And the Assad regime is Iran's close ally in Syria, so that's why that fight is so important. In Iraq, without U.S. airstrikes and without Iran's involvement, you know, it wasn't clear whether the Iraqi security forces were going to be able to defend Baghdad. And if that were to fall as well to this Sunni-Arab militant group, Iran would lose an amount of influence in the region.

RATH: Kate Brannen is a senior reporter at Foreign Policy. Kate, thank you.

BRANNEN: Thank you.