New York Times: Secret documents reveal Iran's role in Iraq

The New York Times says it has obtained confidential documents through The Intercept that reveal Iran's plans in Iraq and its efforts to maintain its position in the country. The New York Times writes about Iran's influence in Iraq and the role of Qassem Soleimani.

“In mid-October, as unrest began in Baghdad, a familiar observer quietly moved through the capital. Baghdad had been under siege for weeks, and the streets were filled with people demanding an end to corruption and the removal of the prime minister. Protesters, particularly denouncing Iran’s heavy influence in Iraqi politics, burned Iranian flags and attacked the Iranian consulate.”

The New York Times writes: “The visitor (inspector) had come to restore order, but his presence added to the protesters’ discontent: He was Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force.”

The newspaper says that documents have been leaked from Iran that provide a detailed picture of Tehran's role in the country's authorities' interference in Iraqi affairs and reveal the special role of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, in decisions made in Baghdad.

These documents are part of the Iranian secret intelligence archive obtained by The Intercept and made available to The New York Times, and were published simultaneously by the two media outlets.

The role of Qassem Soleimani in Iraq

Referring to the recent unrest in Iraq and the presence of Qassem Soleimani in the country, the New York Times considers his goal to be to stabilize the government of Adel Abdul Mahdi and to outline plans to counter the popular uprising that is a threat to Tehran's influence in Iraq.

According to information obtained from these documents, Soleimani met with an ally in the Iraqi parliament to encourage him to support keeping Mahdi in office.

The Arabic-language website Al-Hurra also highlighted parts of the New York Times article.

Al-Horra writes that these documents show that Soleimani's role in Iraq goes beyond uniting political forces in Iraq, and that Tehran has been able to create a network of spies and agents assigned to important political, economic, and even religious institutions in Iraq.

According to the New York Times, these documents reveal that Qassem Soleimani played an effective role in strengthening Tehran's influence in Iraq.

The New York Times writes that Iran's intelligence ministry feared that Iran's achievements in Iraq would be eroded by Iraqis' support for Shiite militias and the Quds Force. The report points to the role of Qassem Soleimani in this regard, criticizing Soleimani for highlighting his role in leading the Quds Force in Iraq by posting photos on social media.

700 pages of documents from an anonymous source

The New York Times reports that nearly 700 pages of classified documents sent anonymously to The Intercept have been translated from Persian into English. The message, which was sent by an anonymous individual, states the purpose of the documents as follows: “Let the world know what Iran is doing to my country, Iraq.”

These documents include hundreds of reports and correspondence written by Iranian Intelligence Ministry agents who were on assignment in Iraq between 2014 and 2015.

Al-Hora writes that these documents provide a visual representation of how Iraq has gradually fallen under Iranian influence since 2003, and also show how Iran has outpaced the United States and is working to expand its influence in Iraq and overcome new challenges.

Such news for Iran in exchange for a reward

These documents show where Iranian parties meet with their agents in Iraq: in dark alleys, shopping malls, under the guise of hunting trips, and even at parties.

According to the documents, informants were constantly monitoring American soldiers. They were lying in wait at Baghdad airport, taking photos of American soldiers and monitoring coalition flights. The documents show how agents who reported information to Iran were paid, whether in the form of gifts of pistachios, perfume and saffron, or bribes to Iraqi officials and even covering the expenses of Iraqi intelligence agents. One of the documents mentions 87 euros given as a gift to a Kurdish commander.

Al-Mahdi and the relationship with Iran

One of the documents shows that Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who worked closely with Iran during his exile under Saddam Hussein, has a special relationship with Tehran. The document also mentions this special relationship in 2014, when Mahdi was Iraq's oil minister, but does not detail the nature of the relationship.

The New York Times writes that a former senior American official warned that “a special relationship with Iran can mean many things, it does not mean that he is an agent of the Iranian government.” At the same time, the New York Times writes that no politician in Iraq can become prime minister without Iranian support, and Mr. Mahdi, who was nominated in 2018, was considered a candidate on whom Iran and the United States had agreed.

The report also mentions several other senior Iraqi officials, including Maliki, who was exiled in Iran in the 1980s and was a candidate for Tehran, who was more desirable to Tehran than his British-educated, pro-Western rival, Haider al-Abadi.

The report refers to a meeting arranged by the Iranian embassy, ​​where Mr. Abadi was described as “an Englishman” and a “US” candidate, and Iran believed it had enough ministers [loyal to Iran] in reserve. It also mentions Hassan Danaeifar, Iran’s former ambassador to Iraq, who called out the names of cabinet members one by one and explained their relationship with Iran. Ibrahim al-Jaafari is another politician mentioned in the report as having a special relationship with Iran.

Cultivating Iraqi officials loyal to Iran

These documents show that the IRGC, especially the Quds Force led by Qassem Soleimani, oversees Iran's policy in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, the most sensitive countries for Tehran. The New York Times writes that the appointment of new ambassadors to these countries is normally not in the hands of the State Department but in the hands of the highest IRGC officials.

The newspaper writes that, according to sources, agents from the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iraq operate in parallel and report their findings to the relevant headquarters in Tehran, which in turn transmits their report to Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

These documents show that cultivating Iraqi officials loyal to Iran was an important part of their activities, made easier by Iran's alliance with many Iraqi leaders belonging to opposition groups in the war against Saddam Hussein.

Qais Qureshi, a political analyst on Iraqi affairs and an advisor to the Iranian government in Iraq, emphasizes that Iran is focused on cultivating high-ranking officials in Iraq. He adds: “We have a large number of allies among the Iraqi officials who we can trust blindly.”

Iran fills America's void

According to leaked information, after the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq in 2011, Iran quickly became active in recruiting those who worked with the US Intelligence and Security Agency (CIA).

According to one of the documents, Iranian intelligence forces began the process of recruiting a spy for the U.S. State Department. The document does not indicate whether Iran was successful in its efforts at the time. However, the documents do indicate that Iran began meeting with the source and that financial incentives, gold rewards, and other gifts were discussed.

The documents obtained indicate that the person in question from the US State Department, whose name is not mentioned, was aware of the US government's plans in Iraq and could have provided this information to Iran, whether in the context of dealing with ISIS or covert operations.

“We are Shiites and we have a common enemy”

These documents, dated November 2014, state that an Iraqi agent who previously worked for the CIA and had the alias "Danny Brasco" later joined the Iranian intelligence service and is known as "Source 134992."

“Source 134992” is keeping Iranian agents up to date on all the information he has about covert American activities in Iraq, and he says he has it for sale: safe locations, the names of hotels where Americans meet their spies, details about weapons and training, and the names of other Iraqis who spy for the Americans. The spy says he worked with the CIA for 18 months while his salary was increased to $3,000, plus a $2,000 bonus and a car.

In another telegram, an Iraqi intelligence officer tells his Iranian counterpart that he is willing to spy for Iran, especially given the United States’ activities in the country, assuring them, “Iran is my second country.” The New York Times quotes the Iraqi officer as saying, “Tell them we are at your service. We are Shiites and we have a common enemy.”

Iran's main plans in Iraq 

The New York Times writes that some of the information is confusing and ridiculous, such as that Iranian spies enter a German cultural institution in Iraq but find they have the wrong password and cannot open the safe. However, the newspaper also points to the valuable information the documents reveal and calls the agents depicted in the documents professionals.

Their main task, according to the New York Times, based on leaked documents, is described as preventing the disintegration of Iraq, keeping Sunni militants away from Iran's borders, preventing a sectarian war that could target the Shiite community with violence, and preventing an independent Kurdistan that would threaten regional stability and Iran's security.

Source: DW