Israel is alleged to have launched several airstrikes on arms depots and convoys belonging to Iran-backed units of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), known in Arabic as Hashd al-Shaabi, inside Iraqi territory.
Such an escalation risks dragging Iraq into a new proxy war – just as the country emerges from years of brutal conflict with the Islamic States group (ISIS).
Briefing the UN Security Council on Thursday, the UN Special Envoy to Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert urged all parties to prevent Iraq becoming a battleground.
“With great dedication, Iraqi leaders are tirelessly engaging regional and international actors to ensure that their country is a meeting ground for stability and not a venue for proxy conflicts,” Hennis-Plasschaert said.
“With this in mind, we should be lucid and recognize that current tensions could well deal a huge blow to all national and international endeavors to rebuild a stable and prosperous Iraq. So, we must spare no effort in avoiding this prospect,” she added.
Tensions between the United States and Iran have been rising for months over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and regional interference. Baghdad, which has allies in both Washington and Tehran, has repeatedly said it wants to remain neutral in the spat.
However, Baghdad has been forced to condemn the suspected Israeli strikes, insisting it reserves the right to respond to attacks on its sovereignty and that it will protect the PMF.
The US has twice denied it had any hand in the targeting the PMF. Armed groups have nevertheless issued threats to target US military and civilian sites in Iraq.
The deputy head of PMF has previously blamed Israel for the attacks. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted at responsibility, saying “Iran has no immunity anywhere”.
If the situation escalates into open conflict, Iraq’s tentative steps toward recovery following decades of conflict could be disrupted.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi has tried to prevent a proxy war by attempting to integrate the PMFs, which operate semi-independently under their own command structure, into the official armed forces.
Progress has been slow, however.
“I am also very encouraged by the government’s determination to bring all armed actors under state control,” Hennis-Plasschaert told the Security Council briefing.
“Recent orders have been met with broad support across the political spectrum – good news – but we are in the early days of implementation, and the next phase will prove crucial. Clearly, zero tolerance for any armed actor outside state control is the way forward,” she added.
Erbil-Baghdad security cooperation
Just as a new conflict beckons, Iraq risks stumbling back into a fresh ISIS insurgency. The ongoing dispute between the federal government in Baghdad and the semiautonomous Kurdistan Region has opened up yawning security gaps which militants have successfully exploited.
Hennis-Plasschaert told the Security Council she is hopeful the two sides can resolve their differences now that both governments have been formed.
“This has created a positive momentum to advance negotiations between Baghdad and Erbil, also demonstrated by the establishment of a High-Level Joint Committee,” she said.
“And I cannot deny: the expectations are high, in particular on key files – including Kirkuk, Sinjar, and revenue sharing,” she added.
Kirkuk and Sinjar, known to Kurds in Shingal, are part of the disputed territories, claimed by both Baghdad and Erbil. The Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces controlled these areas until October 16, 2017, when they were forced to withdraw in the face of an Iraqi offensive.
“Regarding Kirkuk, I am very encouraged by the goodwill – demonstrated over the past months by all parties involved – to finally address the normalization of the situation in Kirkuk,” Hennis-Plasschaert said.
“As for Sinjar, I again travelled to the region earlier this month. And I continued, unfortunately, to witness great devastation and slow progress on the ground,” she added.
Erbil and Baghdad have formed committees for talks on the joint administration of the disputed territories. Any agreements they reach must be placed before the Supreme Committee headed by the Iraqi and Kurdistan Region prime ministers.
A vast no man’s land was left between Iraqi and Peshmerga forces in the disputed territories following the October 2017 events. ISIS has exploited this gap to reestablish its networks and stage attacks.
Greater coordination between Iraqi and Kurdish forces is seen as the only way of preventing an ISIS resurgence in the area which could plunge Iraq into another insurgency.
“Also important is the rapid enactment of the Joint Security Mechanism,” the UNAMI chief said. “It will pave the way for joint operations along disputed boundaries. Inadequate coordination will continue to give ISIL (ISIS) a margin of maneuver.”
“In other words: enhanced operational performance on the ground between federal and Kurdish regional forces is not a nice to have but a necessity.”
Hennis-Plasschaert ended her briefing with a call for Iraqi unity and for the international community to prioritize Iraq’s stabilization.
“I would like to underline that Iraq’s daunting challenges did not arise overnight, nor are they solely the product of Iraqi actions. As such, they will not be resolved tomorrow. In other words: Iraqis must press ahead in unity and with an engaged international community at their side,” she said.
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