Iranian-supported militias make up the majority of ground forces now striking against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria in the Iraqi city of Tikrit, in a growing shift of influence in the region even as the U.S. pours thousands of troops and millions of dollars in military equipment back into Iraq to bolster Baghdad’s efforts against the terrorist group.
“Iran’s influence is growing in Iraq,” commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. Lloyd Austin told the House Armed Services Committee Tuesday, in a day of congressional testimony from the Pentagon’s top leaders that gradually painted a picture that was heavy in its revelations about Iran’s role in Iraq, after years of little information on the issue.
Iraq’s operation over the weekend to attack Islamic State forces in Tikrit involved an Iraqi force that was made up of about one-third Iraqi Security Forces and two-thirds of Iranian-supported Shi’a militias, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey told senators, and was “the most overt” Iranian support in Iraq since Iranian-backed forces started infiltrating Iraq in 2004.
Tikrit is a medium-sized Iraqi city about halfway between Baghdad and the northern city of Mosul and is the birthplace of Saddam Hussein.
No U.S. support was requested by Iraq, which instead partnered with Shi’a militias to launch the operation against the Islamic State in Tikrit. On Tuesday, both generals sought to minimize the surprise of the Iranian’s role, saying they are monitoring the interaction and support that Iranian forces in the east are providing Shi’a militias.
Austin said the offensive did not catch the U.S. military off-guard.
“We do not coordinate with the Iranians,” Austin said. “Clearly, we have very good intelligence services. And we have good overhead Imagery… The activity in Tikrit was no surprise. I saw this coming many days leading up to this. It was a logical progression of what they’ve been doing in the east of the country.”
But lawmakers are growing concerned that Iran’s influence will lead to future sectarian violence, as the U.S. was on the sidelines in Tikrit after spending more than $25 billion on Iraq’s security forces and Iran was responsible for much of the technology behind sophisticated roadside bombs that claimed many U.S. soldiers’ lives during U.S. combat operations in Iraq.
“Are American taxpayer dollars going to the Shi’a militas that were once fighting against U.S. soldiers?” asked Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
Three thousand U.S. troops are now in Iraq training new Iraqi security forces at four sites throughout the country, and the U.S. has budgeted about $3 billion to reconstitute the Iraqi Army after it collapsed against the Islamic State in the summer. That money is in addition to the $25 billion the U.S. spent on Iraq’s security forces during its combat operations there.
In addition, last week the Pentagon announced it was speeding another $17 million worth of arms to Iraq, including 10,000 M-16 rifles, 23,000 magazines of ammunition, 250 mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, and a total of 1,750 Hellfire missiles to aid the fight.
Both Dempsey and Austin said it would be difficult to keep the weapons out of the militia’s hands.
While Dempsey told the Senate Armed Services Committee “we’ve got confidence those are going into the right hands,” he was quick to add that some of the previous weapons the U.S. sold Iraq through the Foreign Military Sales program are now in the “hands of Shi’a militia.”
“We are monitoring it as well as we can,” Dempsey said.
The U.S. is doing “everything in our power to prevent that from happening,” Austin said. “The first line of defense is the Iraqi government.”
Dempsey said Iran’s support and influence is “frankly only a problem” if it leads to further sectarian division in Iraq and the continued exclusion of Iraq’s Sunni population from government and military leadership there.
“We are going to have to count on the Iraqi government to do those things necessary to, number one, ensure that things don’t trend toward greater sectarian violence,” Austin said.
