Country is torn between those who hope for end to Tehran’s influence and those loyal to Islamic republic
O
f all the countries being pulled into the US-Israeli war on Iran, it is Iraq – a country that still bears the emotional and physical scars of the last time the Americans tried to reshape the region by force – where the conflict has exposed some of the deepest rifts.
The war is dividing those who see the attacks on Iran as a way to end Tehran’s longstanding influence over Iraqi politics from the self-declared loyalists of the Islamic republic, and cutting through state institutions, armed forces and Shia Islamist parties.
Exacerbating tensions is the fact that the war has struck during a precarious power vacuum in Iraq after the caretaker leader Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, whose coalition won the largest share of seats in November’s parliamentary elections, stepped aside.
