BAGHDAD: A visit by the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force to Baghdad led to a suspension of attacks on US troops by Iran-aligned groups in Iraq, several Iranian and Iraqi sources told Reuters, a sign that Tehran wants to prevent a wider conflict. .
Esmail Qaani met with representatives of several armed groups at Baghdad airport on January 29, less than 48 hours after Washington accused the groups of killing three US soldiers at the Tower 22 base in Jordan, the sources said.
Qaani, whose predecessor was killed by a US drone near the same airport four years ago, told factions that drawing American blood risked a heavy U.S. response, 10 sources said.
He said the militias should lie low to avoid US strikes on their senior commanders, destruction of key infrastructure or even direct retaliation against Iran, the sources said.
While one faction initially disagreed with Qaani’s demand, most others did. The following day, the elite Iranian-backed group Kataib Hezbollah announced it was halting attacks.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad, Iraq January 9, 2024.
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There have been no attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since February 4, compared with more than 20 attacks in the two weeks before Qaani’s visit, part of a surge in violence by opposition groups against Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Without Qaani’s direct intervention, it would be impossible to convince Kataib Hezbollah to stop its military operations and ease tensions,” said a senior commander of one of Iraq’s Iran-linked armed groups.
Qaani and the Quds Force, a branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards that works with allied armed groups from Lebanon to Yemen, did not immediately respond to requests for comment for this story. Kataib Hezbollah and one other group could not be reached for comment. The US White House and the Pentagon also did not immediately respond.
Qaani’s visit was mentioned in the Iraqi media, but details of his message and impact on reducing the number of attacks were not previously reported.
To that end, Reuters spoke to three Iranian officials, a senior Iraqi security official, three Iraqi Shiite politicians, four sources from Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups and four Iraq-focused diplomats. 10
Iraqi-American talks continue
The apparent success of the visit underscores Iran’s influence over Iraqi armed groups, which alternately pressurize and cool tensions to further their goal of ousting US forces from Iraq.
The government in Baghdad, a rare ally of both Tehran and Washington, is trying to prevent the country from once again becoming a battleground for foreign powers and has asked Iran to help rein in the groups following the attack on Jordan, five sources said.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani “worked with all relevant parties inside and outside Iraq and warned them” that the escalation would “destabilize Iraq and the region,” Sudan’s foreign affairs adviser Farhad Alaadin told Reuters when asked to confirm Qaani’s visit and request for assistance in controlling armed groups.
The attack “played into the hands of the Iraqi government”. said a Shiite politician from the ruling coalition. After the subsequent abatement of hostilities, negotiations with the United States on ending the American presence in Iraq were resumed on February 6.
Several Iran-aligned parties and armed groups in Iraq also prefer talks to strikes to end the US troop presence. Washington was unwilling to negotiate a change in its military posture under fire, fearing it would embolden Iran.
The United States currently has about 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria on an advise-and-assist mission. They are part of the international coalition deployed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State, mainly in the west of the country and in eastern Syria.
