The fall of the city of Mosul, 465km North West of Baghdad, at the hands of ISIS was the beginning of Iraq falling apart. After that point the country was shattered into three parts. The three northern cities (Duhuk, Erbil and Sulaiymaniyah) are controlled by the Kurds, which is already known as Kurdistan, then the three Arab (Sunni) cities (Anbar, Salahaldeen, Diyala and Mosul) are controlled by ISIS and then the southern cities including Baghdad are controlled by the Iraqi government and the Militias.
The Militias didn’t have any presence or power in Iraq before 2003. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the toppling of the regime, the militias came out of hiding – previously they had used Iran as a safe land tohide and plan their activities with the support of the Iranian government against the Iraqi government represented by Saddam Hussein. TheIranians supported militias’ influence existed even during the American presence in Iraq after the invasion in 2003, however that influence increased significantly after the American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011.The Militias moved around the country with cautious steps during the American Forces’ presence in the country and they did all that was possible not to come in conflict with the American Forces.
Iran was interfering in the Iraqi internal issues through these militias, which had significant influence on the Iraqi government but that kind of influence just couldn’t satisfy the Persian Empire’s desires. The Iranian supported militia influence increased based on cautious steps. They were looking for a way to have a longer hand in the power center in the country. With the help and protection of the Iranian government, the militias had a smart plan to ease their movement throughout the country without being noticed by the Americans.
The plan was to have their members join the Iraqi Security Forces either the Iraqi Army or the Iraqi Police Force. The plan had many advantages for them, such as free U.S. training as security members and getting paid by the Iraqi government. The most important advantage is that they can take actions around the country in the name of law.
The actions of the militia created much hatred and gave desire for revenge in the Sunni community, and ISIS used this point to their advantage in recruiting most of their fighters and prompting them that it is their golden chance to take revenge on the militia and their supporters and to gain back their lost rights.
After ISIS controlled many Sunni cities there were rumors spreading among the people saying that ISIS’ next target was going to be the country’s capital Baghdad. The Iraqi government along with the religious authority called the people to volunteer for what is called The People Crowd Forces to stop the increase of Iraqi cities falling into the hands of ISIS and to stop the expansion of their territories on the Iraqi soil.
Iran never had a golden chance like this before and the first step to take was to push the militia members to join what is called The People’s Crowd Force. There are many things that Iran could gain through this situation. For example, instead of having a Sunni territory expansion represented by ISIS there will be a Shiite territory expansion represented through ‘The People’s Crowd Force’ presence in theareas liberated back from ISIS.
As soon as The People’s Crowd Force was found by al-Maliki (the former Iraqi Prime Minister) Iran sent Qasimi, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard General, to lead the operations in Iraq. The first conflict between the Iranian presence and the U.S. authority in Iraq was in the city of Tikrit. After taking ISIS out of Tikrit the militia directed by the Iranian power made horrible crimes against the innocent Sunni civilians in the city and villages around it. It was all just a sense of revenge lead by the Old Iranian hatred against the Iraqi Sunni Population. Iran used the fight against ISIS to enter Iraqi territories that they never to have entered so easily.
This is exactly the right time to expand the Iranian ultimate power on the region and revive the Glories of the Persian Empire.
