Head of the Badr Organisation Hadi al-Amiri (R) speaks with officers on the outskirts of Muqdadiyah in Diyala province, north of Baghdad in this January 23, 2015 file photo. Credit: REUTERS/Stringer/Files
Reuters: Special Report: How Iran's military chiefs operate in Iraq
(Reuters) - The face stares out from multiple billboards in central Baghdad, a grey-haired general casting a watchful eye across the Iraqi capital. This military commander is not Iraqi, though. He's Iranian.
The posters are a recent arrival, reflecting the influence Iran now wields in Baghdad.
Iraq is a mainly Arab country. Its citizens, Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims alike, have long mistrusted Iran, the Persian nation to the east. But as Baghdad struggles to fight the Sunni extremist group Islamic State, many Shi'ite Iraqis now look to Iran, a Shi'ite theocracy, as their main ally.
WNU Editor: It looks like it all comes down to religion ... and if that is the case .... the Iranian - Iraqi Shiite alliance is going to be rock solid regardless what the U.S., neighboring Arab states, or even the Islamic State may do.
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