Has Iran’s presence in Iraq marginalized Sunnis?
When the US overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003, it saw Iraq as a new democratic pillar in the Middle East that possessed vast riches and economic potential. The war cost more than $1 trillion and resulted in the loss of 4,500 Americans and approximately 500,000 Iraqis.
Before the American invasion, Saddam allowed Iraq’s Sunni minority to rule with an iron fist, while Iraq’s Shia majority was left disempowered and isolated. Thus the Iranian regime exploited Iraq’s marginalized Shia population as it saw an opportunity in Iraq to create another Shia theocracy and client state.
Subsequently, the Iranian regime has worked tirelessly to prop up Iraqi politicians and officials who would serve its will. For nearly two decades Iran has been able to empower actors who have helped to create a Shia-led Iraqi government, which only benefits its Iranian patrons and Iraq’s Shia elite at the expense of Iraq’s Sunni population. This has, in turn, intensified corruption and violence, which has disenfranchised many Sunnis and driven them to greater poverty.
The persecution of Iraqi Sunnis at the hands of Iran
Iran was able to enforce its will and protect its interests in Iraq largely due to the help of one key actor, Iran’s Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, who equipped, trained and funded Shia militias throughout Iraq. Soleimani advocated that the actions of the Quds Force were under the guise of “national defense and unity” against so-called extremist groups and American presence in the region.
Soleimani was able to use Iranian-sponsored Shia militias to further entrench power under the guise of combating ISIS. The Iranian regime opportunistically exploited ISIS’s cruelty towards Shias to marshal hundreds of thousands of fighters to its cause, creating radical armies that together rivaled ISIS in numbers. Obviously, Iran’s “call to war” was nothing more than a false pretext to radicalize and control more fighters who would unquestioningly undertake Iran’s bidding in Iraq.
Iran then stoked sectarian fears of a Sunni uprising against Iraq’s Shias, by falsely framing Sunnis as sympathetic to the cause of extremist groups like ISIS or al-Qaeda. This created a further rift between Sunnis and Shias in Iraq, as Iran’s propaganda campaign aimed to isolate the Sunni community.
Since the downfall of ISIS, Iran has utilized its Shia militias to pursue an agenda of widespread sectarian cleansing, forcing Sunnis from their homes to establish Shia dominance and entrench its influence. In provinces like Diyala, Saladin and Nineveh, thousands of Sunni families still live in makeshift refugee camps, unable to return home.
The Iranian regime instructed its Shia militias to occupy Sunni villages, homes, and businesses during the war against ISIS, which they have since taken full ownership of. In lucrative business centers such as Mosul’s central marketplace, Shia militias have taken over some 60 shops and stalls from local Sunni businessmen, and refuse to give them back or provide any form of compensation. Yet these militias also target Shia communities which protest the Iranian presence, signaling that Iran will stop at nothing to maintain its influence in Iraq.
Iranian-backed Shia militias, many of which are governed by the Popular Mobilization Forces, have also been implicated in the kidnapping and killing of Sunni civilians, along with the destruction of Sunni mosques throughout Iraq. The purpose of this is to weaken and silence the Sunni population.
These war crimes have led the US to label several Iranian-backed Shia militias, such as Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, as foreign terrorist organizations. Clearly, Iran is attempting to create another client state by undermining the sovereignty of Iraq, through the systematic marginalization and persecution of its Sunnis.
But despite this designation, Iranian-backed Shia militias have been able to further isolate Iraq’s Sunnis politically, as they’ve transferred their influence and battlefield victories into political gains. In Iraq’s last election, political parties linked to Iran’s militias undertook a merciless campaign of violence, fear and ballot-box stuffing to win votes. Accordingly, they were able to win the second highest number of seats and entrench the deep-rooted corruption instilled through Tehran’s control.
How can Iraq’s Sunnis escape the cycle of marginalization?
Following the recent death of Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of Iraq’s pro-Iran Shia militias, the Iranian regime has been scrambling to fill the vacuum of power. This void has threatened Iran’s ability to project power in Iraq, forcing it to put more pressure on Iraq’s Shia elite to control the situation on the ground by cracking down brutally on protesters and calling for the full withdrawal of US troops from the country. This has exposed Iran’s fears that any loss of its influence in Iraq would strengthen the country and cause the downfall of its client state.
Sunni members of parliament have responded by boycotting a parliamentary session on a resolution urging US troops out of the country.
“We told them at that time that yes, you Shia parties are the majority and we do not hate you. But is this the right decision, against the US, now?” prominent Sunni MP Mohammed al-Karbouli stated.
Before the US drone strike on Soleimani and al-Muhandis, parliamentarians were working together towards a peaceful compromise on the constitution in response to widespread protests that saw both Sunni and Shia Iraqis demand an end to corruption and Iranian subversion. But now, because of Iran’s increasing interference, there “is a constitutional void and the way Shias consider themselves rulers of the country will lead the country to collapse,” stated al-Karbouli.
In this environment, Sunni parliamentarians have voiced that Iraq’s Sunnis feel like “second-class citizens,” as Iran has only served to divide Iraq and turn it into a puppet state.
To avoid the type of sectarian violence that has plagued Iraq and the region for decades, non-sectarian and pro-sovereignty movements will need to take charge to reject Iran and its Iraqi enablers. These sentiments are beginning to take charge as the Sovereignty Alliance for Iraq, an umbrella movement for the country’s growing pro-sovereignty movement oversees an increasingly large number of organizations. Leaders like the Najafa Brothers and groups like the National Wisdom Movement and the National Independent Iraqi Front all operate under this context and consist of both Sunni and Shia leaders.
Solving the Iranian issue in Iraq cannot be achieved through sectarian fighting in Iraq’s streets and parliament. Rather, sovereignty movements, which reflect the sentiment of Iraq’s protesters, can unite and defend the country on the basis of an anti-sectarian and nationalist message. For Iraq’s Sunnis to truly escape this cycle of persecution and marginalization, the Iraqi nation needs to become a sovereign state, free from Tehran’s divisive meddling.
The writer is a Paris-based political analyst specialized in Middle East affairs, specifically intra-Arab relations and conflict resolution. He works with various research institutions and consults on matters related to security and finance in the Middle East. He holds a BA in political science from King’s College in London and a PhD in political science from the Paris Institute of Political Studies.