Iraq's influential Shiite cleric who emerged as a winner in last month's general elections on Thursday called on the country's myriad pro-Iran Shiite armed factions to disband if they want to join his upcoming government.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Muqatada al-Sadr also asked the factions to hand over their weapons to the government-sanctioned umbrella known as Popular Mobilization Forces. In turn, he also asked the PMF to "purify" its ranks from "undisciplined elements" and surrender "corrupt individuals" to the judiciary.

The militias are certain to reject the demands, which in turn could complicate al-Sadr's efforts to form a government after the vote. It could also increase tensions between Shiites who support the pro-Iran factions and al-Sadr's own followers.

The pro-Iran factions lost a significant number of parliament seats in the Oct. 10 elections and have called the vote fraudulent, rejecting the results. Their supporters have held protests outside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, home to government offices and foreign embassies.

The protests turned deadly earlier this month when demonstrators tried to enter the Green Zone, demanding a ballot recount. One protester affiliated with the militias was killed in an exchange of fire, for which the militias blamed Iraq's incumbent Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

Tensions were further ratcheted up after a failed assassination attempt against al-Kadhimi at his residence the next day. The prime minister suffered a light cut and several of his guards were wounded in the Nov. 7 attack by armed drones on his Green Zone residence. There was no responsibility claim for the attack, although suspicion immediately fell on the armed factions.

"Your losses can't be a pretext for ruining the democratic process," al-Sadr said at a rare press conference Thursday, addressing the factions.

Political analyst Ihsan al-Shammari, who heads the Iraqi Political Thinking Center in Baghdad, said al-Sadr's comments underscored "clear and deep Shiite divisions," which will not help speed up the formation of a new government. Shiite armed factions serve as Iran's arms in Iraq, he said, and are being used to pressure political leaders.

As the winner in the elections, al-Sadr's bloc will seek coalition partners and name the next prime minister. The protests staged by supporters of hard-line Iran-aligned militias appeared to be aimed at pressuring al-Sadr to ensure that they are part of the next cabinet.

But al-Sadr's call on Thursday practically ruled that out, instead asking the armed factions who function outside the PMF to disband.

The PMF is an umbrella organization of mostly Shiite groups officially under the prime minister's command. It was created during the war against the Sunni extremist Islamic State group, which in 2014 seized large swaths of western and northern Iraq. ISIS was eventually defeated but the thousands of mainly Shiite paramilitary fighters who fought against it never disbanded or surrendered their arms.

Some of the most Iran-friendly militias under the PMF have shown signs of splintering into new, previously unknown groups, allowing them to claim attacks targeting US interests under different names to mask the extent of their involvement.

A senior official with Kataib Hezbollah, one of the hard-line pro-Iran militias, said he welcomed in principle al-Sadr's call to hand over weapons. But that can only happen, Abu Ali Al-Askari said, after al-Sadr's own armed group, Saraya al-Salam, surrenders its weapons, as Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters should also do.

"Only after these two things happen can the project of limiting arms in the hands of the state succeed," Al-Askari said.

Al-Sadr commands the devotion of millions of Iraqis, including those who fought in his former Mahdi Army militia, a force that battled US troops in the early days of the US-led occupation. In 2014, al-Sadr revamped the militia under the name the Peace Brigades – Saraya Salam – that fought against Islamic State militants.

He recently announced the closure of the offices of his Saraya al-Salam fighters in various provinces – a largely symbolic move apparently meant to show he is serious about bringing all arms under state control.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Iraqi cleric to pro-Iran militias: Disband if you want to join government appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Troops deployed around Baghdad on Sunday following the failed assassination attempt with armed drones that targeted the residence of Iraq's prime minister. The attack significantly ramped up tensions sparked by the refusal of Iran-backed militias to accept last month's parliamentary election results.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Seven of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's security guards were wounded in the attack by at least two armed drones in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone area, according to two Iraqi officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give official statements.

Al-Kadhimi was unharmed. He later appeared on Iraqi television, seated behind a desk in a white shirt, looking calm and composed. His left hand appeared to be wrapped in a bandage.

"Cowardly rocket and drone attacks don't build homelands and don't build a future," he said. Later on Sunday, he received Iraqi President Barham Salih and headed a government security meeting.

Residents of Baghdad heard the sound of an explosion followed by heavy gunfire from the direction of the Green Zone, which houses foreign embassies and government offices. Handout photos showed the damage in al-Kadhimi's residence, including smashed windows and doors blown off their hinges.

There was no claim for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell on Iran-backed militias who had been publicly attacking al-Kadhimi and issuing threats. It came amid a stand-off between security forces and the pro-Iran Shiite militias whose supporters have been camped outside the Green Zone for nearly a month. They gathered after rejecting the results of Iraq's parliamentary elections, in which they lost around two-thirds of their seats.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, a spokesman for al-Kadhimi and Iraq's commander in chief, told Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV that the drone flew in from southeast Baghdad at low altitude and could not be detected by defensive systems.

"The assassination attempt is a dramatic escalation, crossing a line in unprecedented fashion that may have violent reverberations," wrote Ranj Alaaldin, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution, in a post on Twitter.

Protests turned deadly Friday when the demonstrators tried to enter the Green Zone. Security forces used tear gas and live ammunition. There was an exchange of fire in which one protester affiliated with the militias was killed. Dozens of security forces were injured. Al-Khadimi ordered an investigation to determine what sparked the clashes and who violated orders not to open fire.

Some of the leaders of the most powerful militia factions loyal to Iran openly blamed al-Kadhimi for Friday's clashes and the protester's death.

"The blood of martyrs is to hold you accountable," said Qais al-Khazali, leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, addressing al-Kadhimi in recorded comments to supporters. "The protesters only had one demand against fraud in elections. Responding [with live fire] means you are the first responsible for this fraud."

A funeral for the protester Saturday was attended by leaders of the mostly Shiite Iran-backed factions who together are known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic.

Al-Khazali, in a statement Sunday, suggested the militias were being framed, calling for an investigation and for the punishment of the perpetrators.

Other PMF leaders also condemned the attack, blaming it on "third parties" seeking to incite strife.

Influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who won the largest number of parliament seats in the Oct. 10 elections, denounced the "terrorist attack," which he said seeks to return Iraq to the lawlessness and chaos of the past. While al-Sadr maintains good relations with Iran, he publicly opposes external interference in Iraq's affairs.

Al-Kadhimi, 54, was Iraq's former intelligence chief before becoming prime minister in May last year. He is considered by the militias to be close to the US, and has tried to balance between Iraq's alliances with both the US and Iran. Prior to the elections, he hosted several rounds of talks between regional foes Iran and Saudi Arabia in Baghdad in a bid to ease regional tensions.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh in a briefing Sunday condemned the assassination attempt on al-Khadimi and indirectly blamed the US. He said to be aware of "the conspiracies that target the security and progress of Iraq," without elaborating.

Khatibzadeh said such incidents "are in the interests of those parties that have invaded the stability, security, independence and territorial integrity of Iraq over the past 18 years."

The US strongly denounced the attack.

"This apparent act of terrorism, which we strongly condemn, was directed at the heart of the Iraqi state," said State Department spokesperson Ned Price.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi also condemned the assassination attempt. Writing on Facebook, he called on all sides in Iraq to "calm down, renounce violence and join forces to preserve the country's stability."

El-Sissi; French President Emmanuel Macron; Jordan's King Abdullah and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati were among leaders who called al-Kadhimi on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia issued a statement of support for stability in Iraq and said it strongly condemned the "cowardly terrorist attack that targeted Iraq's prime minister."

The United States, the UN Security Council and others have praised the Oct. 10 election, which was mostly violence-free and without major technical glitches.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

But following the vote, militia supporters pitched tents near the Green Zone, rejecting the election results and threatening violence unless their demands for a recount were met.

The unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud have cast a shadow over the vote. The standoff with the militia supporters has also increased tensions among rival Shiite factions that could spill into violence and threaten Iraq's newfound relative stability.

The election was held months ahead of schedule in response to mass protests in late 2019, which saw tens of thousands in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite southern provinces rally against endemic corruption, poor services and unemployment. They also protested against the heavy-handed interference of neighboring Iran in Iraq's affairs through Iran-backed militias.

The militias lost some popularity since the 2018 vote, when they made big election gains. Many hold them responsible for suppressing the 2019 protests, and for challenging the state's authority.

The post Iran-backed militias suspected in failed assassination bid against Iraqi PM appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The Iranian presence on the Syrian-Israel border is a well-known fact, but a new report from a Syrian research institute reveals just how deeply Iran has entrenched itself on Israel's northern border.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The report was compiled by the Istanbul-based research institute Jusoor for Studies, which maintains close contact with the forces that oppose Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

According to the report, in the two years since Russia, the US, Jordan and Israel signed a 2018 agreement promising to lessen Iran's presence on the Syrian Golan heights, the Iranian military presence in southern Syria has more than doubled, and it is deployed in preparation for a future confrontation with Israel.

The report claims that from 2018-2021, the number of military bases and outposts of pro-Iranian militias and Hezbollah in southern Syria has increased from 40 to 88. It also reveals that bases of the Syrian Army, particularly the 90^th Brigade deployed from southern Syrian to Damascus, serve as logistics backing for the pro-Iranian militias in the country.

In addition, the report claims that the militia personnel includes fighters from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Lebanon, and that its command echelon is mostly comprised of members of the Revolutionary Guards Corps serving in Syria disguised as militia members or Syrian army officers.

The report presents two main lines of bases belonging to the militias, Hezbollah, and bases used by both groups. One line is located very close to the Israeli border and the center of it is located near the Druze village of Khader in the northern Syrian Golan. The second line runs for some 30 km. (18.5 miles) eastward, and its purpose is to supply equipment and launching sport for rockets and artillery fire for frontline fighters.

According to the report, the forces loyal to Iran in Syria also help the Assad forces oppress the local population, which in July led an uprising near the city Daraa.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Iran has doubled forces on Israeli border since 2018, report claims appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

A senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander urged Iraqi Shiite militias to step up attacks on US targets during a meeting in Baghdad last week, three militia sources and two Iraqi security sources familiar with the gathering said.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

American forces in Iraq and Syria were attacked several times following the visit by an Iranian delegation led by Revolutionary Guards intelligence chief Hossein Taeb, which came after deadly US airstrikes against Iran-backed militias at the Syrian-Iraqi border on June 27.

While encouraging retaliation, the Iranians advised the Iraqis not to go too far to avoid a big escalation, three militia sources briefed on the meeting said.

The Iranians did, however, advise them to widen their attacks by retaliating against US forces in Syria, according to one of the three militia sources, a senior local militia commander briefed on the meeting.

The flare-up comes as significant differences cloud diplomatic efforts to revive the Iranian 2015 nuclear agreement, which was abandoned by former US President Donald Trump but which Iran wants reinstated to allow it to resume key exports of oil.

A senior official in the region, who was briefed by Iranian authorities on Taeb's visit, said that Taeb met several Iraqi militia leaders during the trip and conveyed "the supreme leader's message to them about keeping up pressure on US forces in Iraq until they leave the region."

Since the US airstrikes, attacks on US troops and personnel or bases where they operate have intensified in Iraq and widened to eastern Syria.

Iran's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters for this article, and officials at the Revolutionary Guards public relations office were not immediately available for comment.

Iran's UN envoy this month denied US accusations that Tehran supported attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria, and condemned US airstrikes on Iranian-backed militants there.

There was no immediate response from the Iraqi government or the prime minister's office to questions about the meeting.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Report: Iranian commander urged escalation against US forces appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

In the latest round of hostilities with Israel, Hamas used weapons, rockets, and components of missiles and rocket launchers that were smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Libya, intelligence officials in the Libyan military told Israel Hayom on Monday.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The Libyan officials accused Turkey, Qatar, and Iran of exploiting the instability in Libya to use it to smuggle weapons and technology to Hamas in Gaza. According to the Libyan reports, these three countries also fund and support radical Islamist groups in Libya, which handled the contact and deals with Hamas for the weapons and rockets, as well as supplying them with technical information.

Israel Hayom has also learned that Hamas operatives have undergone training in Libya along with militias and foreign fighters dispatched to Libya by Turkey and Iran. This training was funded by money from Qatar.

While these programs were taking place, Qatar, Turkey, and Iran were all supposedly working against the radical Islamist groups in Libya.

According to information obtained by Israel Hayom, Israel discovered that some of Hamas' weapons and weapons manufacturing knowledge had arrived from Libya. In some cases, the materials were smuggled in by sea, and in other cases smuggled over land – from Libya to Egypt, through the Sinai Peninsula into Gaza.

Western intelligence sources said that Israel was coordinating with the US and Europe to prevent Turkish and Qatari support for radical Islamist groups in Libya by setting up a mechanism to oversee the money transferred to Libya through international bands and close American oversight to keep Turkey from intervening in north Africa.

In related news, the Libyan officials told Israel Hayom that Libyan elections, planned for Dec. 24, would likely be postponed due to ongoing instability in the country. The officials said that the unity government under Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh was not able to "balance" internal matters in Libya, despite having been established with the agreement of regional players. The officials said there was a need to strengthen Libyan government institutions and eradicate all the armed militias, terrorist groups, and foreign fighters that had been sent to Libya by Turkey, Qatar, and other regional players.

According to the Libyans who spoke to Israel Hayom, there was agreement in Libya that Gen. Khalifa Haftar, head of the Libyan military and a moderate, would be the best person to oversee the period of transition, whether he were elected or served as head of a governing military council.

Video of #LNA Commander Khalifa Haftar meeting with the Director of #Egypt's Military Intelligence Department Major General Khaled Megawer & his accompanying delegation including a high-rank general from the #Egyptian Air Force. https://t.co/R7YGDYb1Bm pic.twitter.com/vfwkQRfNpP

— Mahmoud Gamal (@mahmouedgamal44) August 19, 2020

The December election would likely be pushed to June 2022, the sources said, although they added that "regional forces have already picked Khalifa Haftar as the next leader of Libya because of his moderation and also the fact that the areas under his control are quiet, and everyone there lives in harmony. He knows how to balance between everyone and how to eradicate extremism, instate law and order, and conduct reasonable trade and economic activity in Libya's difficult situation."

Israel, the US, and Europe see Haftar as having rebuilt Libya's military apparatus, as well as being a good governor of the areas under his control, able to contend with the armed militias and foreign fighters shipped to Libya by Qatar and Turkey.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post 'Hamas used weapons, rocket launchers smuggled from Libya' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

One day after Syrian state media outlets reported Israeli airstrikes in the south of the country, a website identified with the Syrian opposition forces published an image of a warning leaflet to the Syrian army apparently airdropped in the country's south.

According to the site, Israeli planes dropped the leaflets before attacking military sites in southern Damascus, As-Suwayda, and Jabal Al-Mana.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Addressing the commander of the Syrian army's 112^th Brigade, Basil Abu Eid, the leaflet notes that despite prior warnings, he was still allowing Hezbollah forces to operate in the area under his command.

"You are putting your life and the life of your men at risk to serve the interests of Hezbollah in southern Syria. What is Hezbollah's role in southern Syria? What are its achievements in training the region and the military? Does taking advantage of the difficult situation of residents to enlist them in carrying out acts of terror serve Syrian interests? Does using underground structures and military sites to carry out acts of terror serve Syrian interests?" the leaflet asks.

"Hezbollah has brought destruction and instability to the region. You personally and the army in general will pay the price. Now is the time for Hezbollah to leave Syria. Now is the time for Hezbollah to leave the 112^th Brigade."

The Syrian news outlet SANA reported an airstrike it attributed to Israel south of Damascus late Wednesday night.

The SANA report claimed that Syrian air defenses had been activated.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based watchdog group identified with opposition forces, reported a series of explosions were heard at a radar facility in the area of As-Suwayd, where a number of Iranian militiamen and Hezbollah fighters are stationed. The watchdog group attributed the explosions to an Israeli airstrike it claimed resulted in casualties. Later that day, the group said two people had been killed in Al Kiswah and another at the radar facility at As-Suwayd. Over 11 people were wounded in the strike, according to the watchdog group.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post IDF leaflets warn Syrian officer: Hezbollah is putting your life in danger appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The Syrian news outlet SANA reported an airstrike south of Damascus late Wednesday night, which it attributed to Israel.

The SANA report claimed that Syrian air defenses had been activated.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

A Syrian military official was quoted by SANA saying that the strike had come from the direction of the Golan Heights and that Syrian air defenses had intercepted "most of the missiles fired at our territory."

Additional Syrian news outlets reported large explosions and flashes of light in Damascus. As of early Thursday morning, there were no reports of wounded or damage as a result of the airstrikes.

The media outlet Step News Agency, identified with the Syrian rebels, reported that the target of the strike had been a facility belonging to pro-Iranian militias in the village Sahnaya on the Syrian Golan Heights. The site said that ambulances had been seen heading toward the target.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Syrian news agency: Israel attacked targets south of Damascus appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Reports, which attributed the airstrike to Israel, said that three soldiers in the Syrian army had been killed, including one air defense officer. In addition, seven foreign members of pro-Iranian Shiite militias and one civilian woman were reported killed.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

Late Monday night, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported that a number of missiles had been fired toward the Syrian capital of Damascus late Monday night, activating the city's air defense system. According to SANA, the system intercepted several of the missiles.

WATCH: 

SANA quoted a military source who claimed that the missiles had been fired from the direction of the Israeli Golan Heights. Other reports said that Hezbollah operatives had been present in the area targeted in the strike, a claim that has not been independently confirmed.

"We have been dealing with Israeli air aggression in the southern region and our anti-missile system responded, intercepting some of them," the source said.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post At least 11 killed in overnight airstrikes south of Damascus appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

On Jan. 3, a US drone strike in Iraq killed Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force. Washington had accused Soleimani of masterminding attacks by Iran-aligned militias on US forces in the region.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

In the meeting with Khamenei, Kadhimi touched on Iraq's disinclination to become a battlefield between Iran and the United States.

"The people of Iraq want good relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran based on the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of both countries," he told a press conference, which was carried live by Iranian state television. Kadhimi said that Iraq would not allow "any aggression or challenge to Iran from its territory."

The Iraqi premier faces a tough balancing act between Tehran and Washington, which have come close to open conflict in the region, particularly on Iraqi soil, over the past year.

At home, Kadhimi faces increasing pressure from Iran-aligned parties and paramilitary groups who perceive him as siding with the United States because he has indicated he wants to curb the power of Iranian-backed militias and political groups.

Khamenei praised the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iraqi state-controlled institution that is an umbrella grouping of militias, many backed by Iran.

Khamenei also said Iran would not interfere in relations between Iraq and the United States, his official website reported.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

The post Iranian supreme leader threatens strike against US to avenge Soleimani appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The deployment of militia fighters, which has not been previously reported, underscores the chaotic nature of Iraqi politics amid mass protests that led to more than 100 deaths and 6,000 injuries during the week starting Oct. 1. Such militias have become a fixture here with Iran's rising influence. They sometimes operate in conjunction with Iraqi security forces but they retain their own command structures.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

The Iraqi security sources told Reuters that the leaders of Iran-aligned militias decided on their own to help put down the mass protests against the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, whose one-year-old administration is backed by powerful Iran-backed armed groups and political factions.

"We have confirmed evidence that the snipers were elements of militias reporting directly to their commander instead of the chief commander of the armed forces," said one of the Iraqi security sources. "They belong to a group that is very close to the Iranians."

A second Iraqi security source, who attended daily government security briefings, said militiamen clad in black shot protesters on the third day of unrest, when the death toll soared to more than 50 from about half a dozen. The fighters were directed by Abu Zainab al-Lami, head of security for the Hashid, a grouping of mostly Shi'ite Muslim paramilitaries backed by Iran, the second source said. The Hashid leader was tasked with quashing the protests by a group of other senior militia commanders, the source said. The sources did not say how many snipers were deployed by militia groups.

A spokesman for the Hashid, Ahmed al-Asadi, denied the groups took part in the crackdown. "No members were present in the protest areas. None of the elements of the Hashid took part in confronting protesters," Asadi said in a statement to Reuters.

Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Saad Maan said state security forces did not fire directly at protesters and blamed unnamed "vicious" shooters for the mass deaths and injuries. The government has opened an investigation to determine who shot the protesters and who ordered it, Maan said in a news conference on Oct. 6.

The assertion that security forces did not participate in the violence seemed to contradict a statement on Oct. 7 from the Iraqi security forces which said excessive force had been used and promised to hold individuals accountable for violence against civilians.

An official with the prime minister's office said in a statement to Reuters Wednesday that it would be "premature to lay the blame on any parties, whether from Hashid or other security forces, before we end the investigation. Let's wait and see who gave the order 'shoot to kill.'"

Iran's role in responding to the demonstrations was another reminder of Tehran's reach in Iraq, where a sizable number of former militia commanders are now members of parliament and support the Iranian agenda. The stability of the Iraqi government is in the best interests of Iran, which has been steadily amassing influence in Iraq since 2003, when the US-led invasion toppled the Islamic republic's archenemy Saddam Hussein. Iran is Iraq's biggest trading partner.

Iran's delegation to the United Nations did not immediately respond Wednesday afternoon to questions from Reuters about its support of militias and their involvement in the violence against protesters. Leaders of militias in Iraq have denied getting training and weapons from Iran.

As protests entered their third day, on Oct. 3, snipers appeared on Baghdad rooftops. A Reuters cameraman who was covering the unrest near Baghdad's Tahrir Square that afternoon said he saw a sniper, wearing a balaclava and dressed in black as he stood on top of an under-construction building that overlooked the demonstrations.

Protesters fled as the sniper opened fire. One protester who was shot in the head was carried away in a large crowd. Another who was shot in the head appeared to have died and was rushed off in a truck. When his phone rang, a friend recognized that the man's brother was calling.

"Don't tell him he died," the friend said.

The protests started Oct. 1 amid public rage over chronic shortages of jobs, electricity and clean water. Iraqis blame politicians and officials for systemic corruption that has prevented Iraq from recovering after years of sectarian violence and a devastating war to defeat Islamic State.

Any vacuum of power could prove challenging for the region, given that Baghdad is an ally of both the United States and Iran, who are locked in their own political standoff. Thousands of US troops are stationed in the country in positions not far from those of Iran-backed Shiite militias.

The second security source told Reuters that the snipers were using radio communications equipment that was provided by Iran and is difficult to intercept, giving the groups an essentially private network.

A group of senior commanders from Iran's Revolutionary Guards traveled to Iraq on the second day of the protests and met with Iraqi intelligence and security officials, according to a diplomat in the region familiar with Iran's decision-making process. After the meeting, senior Revolutionary Guard officers with experience in curbing civil unrest continued to advise the Iraqi government, the diplomat said, although no Iranian soldiers were deployed.

A senior commander of one of the Iran-backed militias – who said his group was not involved in efforts to stop the protests or the resulting violence – said Tehran consulted closely with forces trying to quell the demonstrations.

"After two days, they jumped in and supplied the government and militias with intelligence," the militia leader told Reuters. "Iranian advisors insisted on having a role and warned us that the ongoing protests, if not reversed, will undermine the government of Abdul Mahdi."

The post 'Iran-backed militias deployed snipers in Iraq protests' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.