Saturday September 26, 2015

I've Been Thinking:

Iran has been at the front fighting against ISIS. This is true in Syria and it is especially true in Iraq. So when the US prods the Iraqis about their relationship with Iran --- the Iraqis get testy.

Iraqi foreign minister, and former prime minister, Ibrahim al Jaafari spoke at the Council of Foreign Relations in NYC. He said "Iraq is not part of Iran. Iraq is not an Iranian province," he said. "Iran has no right to make decisions on behalf of Iraq. We accept help, but we do not accept interference or violations of our sovereignty."

Jaafari is responding to the US wondering what kind of role and what level of influence Iran has and will have in Iraq's future. Jaafari insisted that the answer is - no role. But it gets more complicated. Jaafari is a Shiite as is Iranian leadership.

There is much hatred between the Shiites of Iran who are Persians and the Shiites of Iraq who are Arabs. Tensions between the groups are almost insurmountable.

But for the time being the mutual animus between these two Shiite groups has been set aside in order to fulfill their common goal - fighting ISIS.

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