Iran targets Israel from Iraq
Iran targets Israel from Iraq
In a speech delivered on May 9, Sheikh Akram al-Kaabi, Secretary General of the Hezbollah Nujaba movement in Iraq, delivered a series of threats against Israel. Hezbollah Nujaba is an Iran supported Shi’ite militia. It is affiliated with the Popular Mobilisation Forces, or Hashd al-Shaabi, which is a gathering of mainly Shi’ite, mainly pro-Iran military groups. Al-Kaabi’s speech is by itself of only passing interest. But it is an indication of the growing involvement of Teheran’s Iraqi servants in Iran’s preparations for conflict with Israel – and not only on the verbal level.
In his speech, al-Kaabi accused Israel of supporting “Takfiri” organisations – the Shi’ite militias’ and Iran’s preferred term for Sunni groups such as ISIS. The Takfiri groups, al-Kaabi said, wage a “proxy war” on behalf of the “Zionist entity”, so that it may “enjoy peace, while its proxies are killing the Muslims.” The Shi’ite militia leader pledged that after the “Takfiri” groups were defeated, the goal of his organisation would be to “completely end [the Zionist entity’s] existence, and restore the land to its rightful owners.”
This is not the first time that al-Kaabi has expressed himself in this manner. On Feb. 13, 2018, the Nujaba leader visited Beirut, and pledged that his movement would “stand with the axis of resistance” in a future conflict with Israel. On March 8, 2017, al-Kaabi announced the formation of the “Golan Liberation Brigade,” intended to take part in a future war against Israel on the Golan.
From one point of view, al-Kaabi’s words might seem somewhat pretentious – coming as they do from the leader of a force of around 9,000 lightly-armed militiamen. It is indeed unlikely that his threats will cause the commanders of the IDF’s 210th Bashan Division on the Golan Heights any sleepless nights just yet.
Nevertheless, the Nujaba leader’s latest comments reflect a deeper reality – namely, that the land area encompassing Iraq, Syria and Lebanon today constitutes a single arena from an Iranian operational point of view. Al-Kaabi’s controllers, in the Qods Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), have freedom of action in each of these areas, and operate a coordinated strategy across their entirety. This strategy involves the centralised coordination and use of the many political and military elements which the Iranians have established across this space and which they sponsor.
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