On the Anniversary of Iraq’s Uprising, Iran Still Kills With Impunity

In October 2019, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Iraq demanding anti-corruption reform and limited foreign intervention in the country. One year later, with a new prime minister in place and hundreds of protesters killed, Iraqis are gathering in Baghdad’s Tahir Square to reflect on what these protests have accomplished. A year ago, demonstrators rallied around the call to terminate foreign interference in Iraqi polity, specifically from Iran. This year, more than anything, protestors want justice for the 600-plus activists who were slain participating in these demonstrations.

At the onset of protests last fall, over 200,000 Iraqis marched to revolt against Iran’s deeply entrenched leverage in the country. Tehran’s clout in the country extends through every sector of society—including its economic, political, and military spheres. Politically, Iran has attempted to infiltrate the Iraqi government by partnering with Shiite parties to create a weak federal state monopolized by Shiites and, therefore, agreeable to Iranian influence. Economically, Tehran persistently exploits Iraq’s financial sector for its own illicit activities. In March, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated twenty front companies in Iraq that provide support to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards-Quds Force (IRGC) and Iran’s militias in Iraq, including Kataib Hezbollah.

Tehran supplements its political and economic hold in Iraq with well-funded and loyal militias under Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). These Shiite militant proxies, including Kataib Hezbollah, have been used to provoke sectarian tensions and violently suppress anti-Iranian sentiment. In fact, these Iranian-supported groups are suspected of being responsible for the killing of hundreds of protestors in the last year. In November 2019, Iraqi security sources confirmed that leaders of Iran-backed groups decided on their own to help quell mass protests despite the lack of direction by Iraq’s chief commander of armed forces. Videos have circulated depicting PMU members using snipers to attack protesters, targeting those who are critical of Iran.