A new tactic.. İran’s armed faction in İraq

Shafaq news/ the emergence of The İslamic resistance army (ISRA) which is an armed faction that’s linked to İran, reflects a dangerous risk on the İraqi and regional scene, as well as a shift in performance since the days of Badr organization's formation in the eighties of the last century at the height of the conflict with Saddam Hussein, up to the formation of Al-Mahdi army that’s led by Muqtada Al-Sadr to combat the US army after 2003, from which most of the Shiite armed factions emerged, ending with the formation of the popular mobilization forces (PMF).

Iran’s new tactic in Iraq, to form a new armed faction in cooperation with Iraqi allies indicates a possibility of resorting to a different option in the post-assassination of Al-Quds force commander Qasim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, after which the İranian guide, Ali Khamenei, announced to expel US forces from İraq and the region. 

Undoubtedly, the assassination of Soleimani and Al-Muhandis dealt a severe blow to (PMF) not only at the military and security level, but also at a political level, for the assassination re-opened the door to ponder the fate of (PMF), even though it had officially became a part of the İraqi armed forces and commanded by the commander in chief of the armed forces since 2016.

It is noteworthy mentioning that the formation of (ISRA), which numbers and details were published by Shafaq news, coincides with the delicate political stage that İraq is going through with Mustafa Al-Kadhemi's government.

From an İranian-(PMF)’s point of view, the existence of (ISRA) is a must.

Khamenei’s massage, on Soleimani and Al-Muhandis’s memorial, about the necessity of removing the American forces from İraq last January was received clearly for it coincided with the missile strike carried out by İran against US  military bases in İraq. 

Therefore, the steps of forming (ISRA) can be included in two parallel contexts: the first is İran’s sensitivity to the political scene in Baghdad in the period of the post-Abdul Mahdi’s government and the formation of Al-Kadhemi's government, along with the requirements for completing İran’s military response, hence the necessity of action from outside the (PMF’s)framework to avoid embarrassing the political and armed forces.

As for the second context, it's related to field priorities to administrate Khamenei’s instructions of expelling the US forces, for it’s clear that the Popular mobilization factions, which exceeded the number of 60 since the beginning of their gathering in March 2014 in response to the order of "Jihad” launched by the religious reference, Ali Al-Sistani, have become either very widespread in the field, or adhering to political orders.

Tehran needs to be liberated from all the restrictions in the post-Soleimani and Al-Muhandis’s period and forming (ISRA) serves this need perfectly, in this sense it frees the organization from the limitations of the internal politics as well as religious references completely, for it was clear; the order launched by Khamenei and received by Soleimani’s  successor, Esmail Ghaani, of continuing Soleimani's path and completing his mission to confront and combat the US military presence in Iraq.

(PMF) was clearly linked to the influence of Qasem Soleimani despite Al-Muhandis’s direct leadership in the field, and was exposed to air strikes carried out by US air forces in Iraq and Syria for two years, which caused tensed political relations between Baghdad and Washington, as well as between Baghdad and Tehran.

(ISRA) seems to be an Iranian attempt to reposition itself in the military part of the Iraqi field.

A military official expressed to Shafaq news, that (ISRA) elements were chosen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard corps and included an elite group of trained fighters from Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq, Hezbollah Brigades, Badr Organization, harakat Al-Nujaba and other factions.

(ISRA) Membership require being totally uncommitted to any other Iraqi faction, not even (PMF), which indicates that this faction’s decisions and activities are planned and governed by Iran, whether through Esmail ghaani directly, or the leader of this organization, Majid Miz’al Asi Al-Sharhani Al-Tarfi, an Iraqi-Iranian from Al-Ahwaz, obtained Iraqi citizenship in 2007, and was installed by Qasim Soleimani himself days before being assassinated.

So, the coming weeks and months are to witness different direct military patterns of action, with the escalated exchange of the American-Iranian punches, most probably Iraq will the battlefield of this conflict, whose fire may spread to breach regional areas.