Why Iraq was attacked from all sides amid US-Israel war on Iran

Pro-Iran armed groups under the banner of the ‘Islamic Resistance in Iraq’ have targeted US military assets through asymmetric attacks,” Burcu Ozcelik, a senior research fellow for Middle East security at UK-based think tank Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told Al Jazeera. Ozcelik explained that for Tehran, this both pressures US interests and undermines Iraqi Kurdistan’s reputation for stability by targeting its energy facilities and other key sites. “Kurdistan is a sensitive frontier for Iran in any case, given its proximity to Iran and the presence there of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups Tehran considers hostile.” Ozcelik said that while other Middle Eastern countries, such as Lebanon and Jordan, have also been pulled into the conflict, Iraq is different because Iranian influence runs far deeper there. Pro-Iran armed groups are not just present; they are entrenched and, in part, folded into the country’s security architecture, even as Iraq also hosts key US interests,” Ozcelik said. “That leaves Iraq far more exposed than most, and highly likely to remain in the crossfire long after [US President Donald Trump] claims the war has ended.”