Iraq emerges as a potential target for Israel as it steps up efforts to eliminate the Iranian land bridge to the Levant.
Recent Israeli airstrikes prove that air defense systems supplied to Syria by Russia are not enough to repulse Israeli aggression against Iranian targets in this country, but this may not be the end of the story. Israel may soon change the course of action to strike Iranian targets beyond Syria’s borders and launch aerial campaigns in Iraq where the airspace is defenseless and the political vacuum is too deep for the government to claim territorial sovereignty.
Russian S-300 air defense systems are waiting to be tested in the ongoing Syrian-Israeli conflict, and according to recent news, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) did not employ these systems to repel Sunday’s large-scale air raid by Israel on various Syrian and Iranian positions in southern Syria. SAA had used S-200 missiles to mistakenly target a Russian jet in September 2018, and Russia announced the subsequent delivery of the more advanced S-300 missile launchers along with new radar systems to Syria. Although the Syrian government and Russia claim that Syrian air defense systems have successfully concluded the mission by intercepting the majority of Israeli missiles said to be fired from the Lebanese airspace, it remains obscure whether the famous S-300 systems are capable of defending Syria against an advanced and technological nation like Israel.
Notwithstanding the continuous story of Israeli airstrikes on Iranian-affiliated targets across Syria, another interesting claim emerged in Iraqi media last week that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned the central Iraqi government of potential Israeli airstrikes against Shi’ite militia groups in that country. Iraqi news outlets alleged that Pompeo made it clear to Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi that the US government would refrain from taking action should Israeli missiles start raining on Iranian targets inside Iraq.
Iraq’s test with Iranian-vetted militia groups that have gained access to the Iraqi parliament as the second largest bloc in the final elections of May 2018 has been a rather challenging one for the world and the central Iraqi government alike. Former prime minister Haider al-Abadi’s last policy attempt was designed to bring the militia groups closer to the government as he sought to sack the national security adviser responsible for militias, Falih al-Fayyadh, and replace him in this position by himself. Fayyadh, who does not see any necessity to hide his connections to Iran, regained this position under Mahdi, and was even nominated to become the interior minister. The dispute over Fayyadh created a political deadlock as Iraq is still waiting for someone to become its interior minister to deal with the world’s most fragile security situation.
Reports that the US was concerned about a possible Israeli aerial campaign against Shi’ite militias in Iraq emerged as the debate on the government’s control over militias continue. The only known fact within the dramatically complicated political stalemate of Iraq is the notion that the Iraqi government has given up the race to control the militias, and the current picture is about not losing the government to Iranian militias entirely.
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