11/13/2009

From information in the classified State Department documents exposed by WikiLeaks: “Iran, by the United States’ reckoning, has done the most to try to shape Iraqi politics. A Nov. 13, 2009, cable sent by Ambassador [to Iraq Christopher] Hill, which called Iran ‘a dominant player in Iraq’s electoral politics,’ estimated that Iran’s annual support to political groups in Iraq was $100 million to $200 million. Some $70 million of that, the cable asserts, is directed to the Islamic Supreme Council in Iraq, a leading Shiite party that has also worked closely with American officials, and its former militia, the Badr Corps. …the ambassador acknowledged Iran’s pragmatism: ‘The IRIG [Iranian government] recognizes that influence in Iraq requires operational (and at times ideological) flexibility. As a result, it is not uncommon for the IRIG to finance and support competing Shia, Kurdish, and to some extent, Sunni entities, with the aim of developing the Iraqi body politic’s dependency on Tehran’s largesse.’ ”

 – Michael R. Gordon, “WikiLeaks Archive – Meddling Neighbors Torment Iraq,” The New York Times, Dec. 5, 2010