Iran is heavily involved in the fighting in Iraq. Tehran is
largely behind Baghdad’s defense strategy providing weapons, equipment, planning,
air power, and hundreds of advisers. This has cost it not only money, but also
lives. At the end of December a brigadier general in the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards Corps Quds Force (IRGC-QF) was killed in Salahaddin, marking at least the
fifth loss for Tehran in Iraq.
Gen Taqavi (left) advising
Iraqi forces from Iranian video (via The
Arkenstone)
On December 28, 2014 the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps
Quds Force (IRGC-QF) acknowledged the death of one of its generals in Iraq. It announced
that Brigadier General Hamid Taqavi died in Salahaddin. UPI
reported an Islamic State sniper killed him, while the IRGC said he died in
Samarra protecting the Hasan al-Askari shrine there. Taqavi was in the country
as an adviser and trainer to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and militias. According
to Twitter he actually passed away in Balad, which is roughly 25 miles to the
south of Samarra. That area is the focus of an on going security operation to
secure supply and communication routes between central Salahaddin and Baghdad. The
IRGC claim that he died in Samarra follows Tehran’s propaganda campaign that it
is defending the sacred sites in Iraq from Sunni extremists, much like its line
in Syria is about protecting the Sayid Zainab shrine outside Damascus.
Ali Reza Moshajari of
the IRGC might have been the first Iranian killed during the current fighting
in Iraq in June 2014 (Hizballah Cavalcade)
Funeral for IRGC-QF
pilot Col Mourjani in Iran, July 2014 (AFP)
Taqavi was the fifth reported IRGC member killed in Iraq
this year. On June
16 IRGC member Ali Reza Moshajari reportedly passed away in an accident in
Karbala. That might have been a cover story as his friends claimed he was the
first Iranian martyr in Iraq. That same
month, IRGC Colonel Kamal Shirkhani died in a mortar attack in Samarra. According
to Reuters, one other IRGC member died in Iraq in the middle of June. Finally,
on July 4, a funeral was held for Colonel Shojaat Almdari Mourjani who was a
pilot in the IRGC air force who also died in Salahaddin. He was likely serving
as a forward
air controller for Iranian air strikes. Many more Iranians have likely died
in Iraq as well. For instance, Bas
News reported in September that 30 Iranian soldiers were killed in fighting
alongside the peshmerga to retake Jalawla and Sadiya in Diyala that month. When
Mosul fell Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said
that Tehran would come to the aid of Iraq. That led to a security
agreement with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki whereby Iran would provide
military material, training, and air assets. The Quds Force took the lead in
that effort with anywhere from 150
to 1,500
advisers entering Iraq in the middle of June. Today that latter number might
have more
than doubled. They were led
by IRGC-QF commander General Qasim Suleimani who immediately went to Baghdad to
help coordinating and plan security policy. In December
Prime Minister Haider Abadi acknowledged the presence of Iranian advisers in
Iraq. With this large commitment it was inevitable that the Quds Force would
suffer casualties in Iraq.
The passing of General Taqavi was not the first and will not
be the last loss Iran suffers in Iraq. The war is going to be a long one, and
Tehran is committed to the fight. It not only wants to prevent the spread of
the Islamic State, but sees its presence along the Iranian border as a threat
to itself. It also believes this as a perfect opportunity to expand its
influence within the Iraqi state by becoming its main patron. It has therefore
become the leading military power in the country not only providing equipment but
drawing up most of Baghdad’s strategy as well. This involves deploying hundreds
if not thousands of IRGC-QF personnel along the frontlines, placing themselves
in harms way, which was how Taqavi and the others have died.
SOURCES
Associated Press, “Iranian
commanders on front line of Iraq’s fight,” 7/17/14
Bas News, “Iran Continues to Play Large Role in Fighting
Alongside Peshmerga,” 9/4/14
Dehghanpisheh, Babak, “Iran’s
elite Guards fighting in Iraq to push back Islamic State,” Reuters, 8/3/14
Fassihi, Farnaz, “Iran Deploys
Forces to Fight al Qaeda-Inspired Militants in Iraq,” Wall Street Journal,
6/12/14
Al Forat, “Iran considers security of Iraq as part of its security,”
12/27/14
Gordon, Michael and Schmitt, Eric,
“Iran Secretly Sending Drones and Supplies Into Iraq, U.S. Officials Say,” New
York Times, 6/25/14
Hathalyoum, “A source in the Defense: 3 thousand elements of
the Iranian Revolutionary Guards fighting in Iraq,” 11/18/14
Islam Memo, “Additional 1,500 Iranian troops to fight Daash
in Iraq,” 9/22/14
Nadimi, Farzin, “Iran’s Expanding Military Role in Iraq,”
Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 9/8/14
Naharanet Newsdesk, “Iranian Pilot
Killed Fighting in Iraq,” 7/5/14
Press TV, “Iran general killed during battle against ISIL in
Iraq,” 12/28/14
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, “Iran IRGC’s First ‘Martyr
Versus ISIL?’” 6/16/14
Al-Salhy, Suadad, “Iran advisers boost anti-ISIL battles in
Iraq,” Al Jazeera, 12/14/14
Shariyan, “Haji Hamid martyred,” 12/28/14
Tomlinson, Hugh, “Iran’s special
forces rush in to help floundering ally,” Times of London, 6/11/14
UPI, “Iranian general killed by Islamic State sniper in
Samarra, Iraq,” 12/28/14
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