The Mahdi’s Army was once distrusted by the clerical regime in Tehran because of its strongly Iraqi nationalist bent. But in recent months, Iran is thought to have initiated a closer relationship to destabilize British-controlled southern Iraq…
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, told reporters in Washington that he was concerned over reports of Iranian military, financial and political meddling in Iraq’s affairs. And earlier in the summer, Britain and the United States lodged official complaints with Tehran over its continued interference in southern Iraq.
Apart from sending Revolutionary Guards, the Iranians have been blamed for smuggling arms to Iraqi insurgents, including the infrared devices used against British patrols…
The mullahs fear that if, as expected, Shi’ites take control of Iraq after the referendum, the secular government will be a challenge to the hard-line theocracy that holds sway in Iran.
