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WSJ:
"Russia's move to cement its alliance with Iran in Syria during last
week's meeting of 200 world leaders here underscored a troubling
development for the Obama administration and its European allies: Despite
July's nuclear deal, battle lines have deepened in the Middle East.
Russia appears increasingly willing to strengthen ties with Tehran to
prop up the Assad regime in Damascus and cooperate on other issues.
Meanwhile, the region's proxy wars have intensified as Saudi Arabia seeks
to stymie Iran's push for wider regional clout before Tehran gains a
major economic boost from the easing of Western sanctions early next
year. Saudi officials made it clear at the U.N. that they wanted no part
of any regional discussions involving Iran. After the July 14 deal,
President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials publicly voiced hope that
the nuclear accord could open a window for greater cooperation between
the West and Tehran, while European officials said it showed the West
could work with Russia to soothe international tensions, despite discord
over Ukraine... So far, none of these efforts has borne fruit. Despite a
string of high-level talks with Western leaders, including two bilaterals
between Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry, Iran has displayed little interest in cooperation with the
West." http://t.uani.com/1McJQs1
WSJ:
"Iran's economy stands to profit from the nuclear deal it struck
with six world powers this summer but only if the government makes major
revisions to economic and fiscal policies, an International Monetary Fund
official said Monday. 'The agreement on Iran's nuclear program and the
envisaged lifting of economic sanctions bring a unique opportunity to
build on and broaden the achievements of the past two years,' Martin
Cerisola, the assistant director of the IMF's Middle East and Central
Asia Department, said in a statement following a September visit to
assess the country's economy. But Mr. Cerisola said Iran's economy was
weak and warned that officials needed to make structural changes if they
want to reap the full benefits of the nuclear deal. The political will to
make these changes, which include withdrawing subsidies, reducing
public-sector debt and pursuing a prudent monetary policy, was essential,
he said. 'The complexity and extent of the problems require strong
political leadership and support for decisive and coordinated action,'
Mr. Cerisola said... Iranian leaders hope sanctions relief spurs better
economic performance. Under President Hassan Rouhani, who took office in
2013, inflation has fallen to an annual rate of around 12%, and the Iranian
rial has stabilized against major global currencies. However, the fall in
oil prices over the past year has been a challenge for Iran, where oil
exports account for most of foreign trade. Due in part to the decline,
the IMF estimates that Iran's economy may have contracted during the
first half of the 2015-16 Iranian fiscal year, which began in March. The
full-year projection for economic growth is between -0.5% to 0.5%, Mr.
Cerisola said. The future looks brighter, however." http://t.uani.com/1GusJjD
Guardian:
"The possibility of a major British oil company regaining access to
one of the world's great hydrocarbon markets rose on Friday with
officials in Tehran saying Shell would be allowed to build 100 petrol
stations in Iran. In a separate move, BP confirmed that it had sent a
team of managers to a country which has been out of bounds since western
sanctions were imposed over Iran's nuclear programme. These developments
coincided with the arrival of a 30-member delegation of UK businesses in
the Iranian capital for a four-day visit to meet officials... A Shell
spokesman in London said: 'We have not sought, or been granted, any
licences to operate retail sites in Iran. We remain in full compliance
with all international sanctions.' But if any such deal were to be
agreed, it would mark the first time Iran would overcome its previous
reluctance to allow foreign companies access to its retail energy market.
Trade union officials have significant influence in the signing of such
agreements... BP, which started life as the Anglo-Persian Oil company
through its assets in the Middle East country, sent technical and
commercial managers on a fact-finding mission to the country last month.
A spokesman for the company said: 'BP has met with oil industry officials
in Iran recently. The details of those discussions are confidential. We
have said for some time that we would be interested in reviewing
opportunities in Iran once sanctions permit it. We are fully in
compliance with the current sanctions regimes in place.' ... Abbas Beyad,
international business development executive at the drilling support
company, Britannia Petroleum, said his firm had visited Iran several
times this year and was hoping to be part of another trade mission
expected to be led by the chancellor George Osborne early next
year." http://t.uani.com/1OVFECW
Military Matters
Fars (Iran):
"Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General
Massoud Jazzayeri underscored that the country will not implement any
part of the nuclear agreement between Tehran and the world powers that
could debilitate its defensive power. Asked to comment on the statements
of a number of politicians who have said the nuclear agreement between
Iran and the world powers would undermine Iran's military capabilities,
Jazzayeri told FNA on Monday that enemies' schemes to weaken the Islamic
Republic of Iran's defensive power will fail, 'and fortunately, there is
not even the slightest doubt about the ascending trend of the Armed
Forces' capabilities and skills,'. He referred to the war rhetoric
against Iran by the US and Israel, and said, 'Therefore, we should
increase our military power to safeguard the national security of Iran
and our friends and this important issue will not be affected by any
other phenomenon.' 'Any parts of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action
(JCPOA) which could leave (negative) impacts on the country's defensive
power will not be implemented; I tell this to both the Iranians and the
foreigners,' Jazzayeri stressed. Noting that the Armed Forces have
special plans after the approval of the JCPOA, he said Iran will soon
stage several missile drills." http://t.uani.com/1FUIm93
Sanctions Relief
IRNA (Iran):
"President Hassan Rouhani said Iran is to destroy the wall of
incorrect sanctions in coming weeks. Talking in a gathering to mark the
National Village Day here on Monday, the President commented on the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action and said no one on earth could claim Iran
has failed in the talks." http://t.uani.com/1Pgxx3l
Press TV (Iran):
"Volkswagen officials are visiting Iran to discuss possible joint
cooperation with local companies which have the Middle East's biggest car
market under their belt. The German car manufacturer has sent its
officials to Iran with Olaf Lies, minister of economic affairs, labor and
transport for the federal state of Lower Saxony, where VW is
headquartered. Their visit indicates the carmaker's determination to
press on with its new plans in Iran despite fallout from revelations that
VW had fitted 11 million diesel vehicles around the world with devices
designed to mask the level of emissions. Volkswagen's last venture in
Iran involved its production of the Gol compact with Iran's Kerman Khodro
before withdrawing under US pressures. VW officials accompanied German
Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel in a July visit to Iran along with
representatives of Daimler, Siemens, Linde, BASF and GIZ. Last month, a
VW official said the group was grooming its Skoda brand for the Iranian
market of 80 million people who bought 1.1 million cars last year. 'Iran
is a very interesting market with great opportunities,' VW brand R&D
chief Heinz-Jakob Neusser said. A company source was quoted as saying
that VW was considering a move into Iran with the mass-market Skoda and
Seat brands." http://t.uani.com/1WKztTD
NYT:
"Oil companies need to go where the oil is. And with the increasing
likelihood that international sanctions on Iran will be lifted, it is no
surprise that European oil executives like Ben van Beurden, chief
executive of Royal Dutch Shell, and Claudio Descalzi, chief executive of
Eni of Italy, have met in recent months with Iran's oil minister, Bijan
Namdar Zanganeh. European companies have been sending small teams to Iran
to find out what might be available once they receive a green light,
probably in early 2016... But oil experts caution that it may be some
time before major new oil and gas projects get underway. 'The level of
interest in Iran will be high, but actual investment will be slow,' said
David Goldwyn, who served as international energy coordinator in the
United States Department of State under Hillary Rodham Clinton. These are
among the reasons that Iranian oil production is likely to rise more
slowly than the sudden surge to one million barrels a day that some Iranian
officials have forecast... If these prospects do not sound like a
bonanza, that is because they may not be. As one Western oil executive
put it, for international companies most of the opportunities in the
Middle East are about helping national oil companies extend the lives and
the production of aging fields." http://t.uani.com/1KXRsAX
Al-Monitor:
"Four ministers from the administration wrote a letter to President
Hassan Rouhani warning him that Iran's economic situation could turn into
a 'condition of crisis' that would take many years to recover from. The
most surprising signature on the letter was that of Defense Minister
Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehghan, who is not known to get involved in
nonmilitary matters... The letter stated that there are eight reasons for
the 'rare decline' in Iran's economy, such as sanctions and the drop in
oil prices, but added that 'uncoordinated decisions and policies' of
various governmental agencies is the primary reason for the current
economic situation... Shargh daily asked why the four ministers would
write to the president to address issues for which they themselves are
responsible. According to experts who spoke with Shargh, the letter was
meant to serve as a warning to Iranian parliamentarians to vote in favor
of implementing the final nuclear agreement. Iranian officials opposed to
the nuclear agreement, which would remove economic sanctions in return
for reduced nuclear activity, have argued that Iran can pull itself out
of its current economic situation by relying on domestic production
rather than international markets. Zahrah Karimi wrote in Shargh daily
that the defense minister's signature on the letter suggests that it was
a message to Iranian officials and agencies that if the economic
situation worsens or is not improved, it could lead to a security crisis
for the country, either through mass migration or mass poverty." http://t.uani.com/1KXOMDq
Reuters:
"Iran's crude sales are on track to hit the lowest in seven months
in October, according to a source with knowledge of its preliminary
shipping plans, showing how Tehran is struggling to boost oil exports
even after reaching a landmark nuclear deal. The weaker sales come
despite offers of price discounts to stimulate purchases by Asian buyers
as Iran tries to regain market share lost to rivals such as Saudi Arabia
over the last 3-1/2 years of Western sanctions. September and October
loadings - for arrivals mostly in October and November - indicate
purchases by Iran's main buyers in Asia are set to fall a third
consecutive month, hit by refinery turnarounds and projections for mild
winter weather. China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, is taking the
lowest volumes in about a year. The drop counters expectations that
Iran's exports would rise after Tehran and six world powers reached a
nuclear agreement on July 14, although the sanctions are unlikely to be
officially relaxed until next year... Iran's crude exports, excluding
condensate, are set to fall to around 830,000 barrels per day (bpd) this
month, down 14 percent from revised figures for September and the lowest
since March, according to the source." http://t.uani.com/1Nj82ib
Bloomberg:
"When Mahdi Yazdizadeh tried to import and sell a type of high-tech
robot that stocks warehouses, he found himself running from one Tehran
office to the next, having to answer a stream of questions to get the
needed approvals. 'The customs department doesn't have advance guidelines
so they just pass you from person X to person Y because they haven't
dealt with such things before,' said Yazdizadeh, director of corporate
business development at Shekofa Manesh Co., a leading retail group and
franchisee in Iran. 'You have to almost educate them.' His words are a
warning for companies such as France's Alstom SA, Germany's RWE AG and
others that have expressed interest in investing in Iran once economic
sanctions are removed following a historic nuclear accord...
International investors will have to cope with obstacles including
government control of as much as 70 percent of the economy, a judicial
system deemed unfavorable to foreigners, a dual exchange rate and a
culture in which tough negotiations often go hand-in-hand with doing
business." http://t.uani.com/1MWyY4n
Tehran Times:
"In its recent report, the World Bank has forecasted Iran's gross
domestic product will grow by 0.6 percent in 2015. It is while in its
June report, the bank predicted a 1 percent GDP growth for the country in
2015 and a 2 percent GDP growth in 2016... The Central Bank of Iran has
announced that the national economy expanded by 3 percent in the previous
Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2015." http://t.uani.com/1QWytbk
Tasnim (Iran):
"State-run Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) said the July 14
nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers and the ensuing lifting
of sanctions against Tehran could revive Irano Hind Shipping
Company. Irano Hind Shipping Company is a joint venture between
Shipping Corporation of India and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines
which was partly dissolved in the face of the anti-Iran sanctions. 'Call
for dissolving was taken because sanctions were eroding the company and
sanctions were affecting me (SCI) also,' SCI's Chairman and Managing
Director A K Gupta said, Business Standard reported on Sunday. 'The sanctions
on Iran are to be lifted, we need Iran,' he added." http://t.uani.com/1j3QjxX
Syria Conflict
Al-Monitor:
"Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said that ongoing discussions
are focused on whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad 'will step down
at the beginning of the transitional stage or whether he will stay in
Syria without any powers or privileges.' ... Jubeir added that Iran 'has
become an occupying force in Syria,' and that 'it has already sent
thousands of Quds Force fighters and Shiite militias, such as [members]
of Hezbollah and other militias from the region, to support Assad's
regime.' According to Jubeir, 'If Iran wants to play a role in finding a
political solution in Syria,' it ought to withdraw its forces and
militias from Syria. He noted that this is 'not a condition, rather, it
is the most important role Iran can play in helping Syria get over its
ongoing crisis.' Regarding the dialogue between Saudi Arabia and Iran, he
said, 'The issue is linked to Iran's actions, not words,' referring to
the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries that have been facing, since
the Iranian revolution, the hostile policies of Iran that 'interferes in
the region's affairs in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen. It is also trying
to smuggle explosives to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, while seeking to build
cells inside Arab countries with the goal of destruction.' He added that
Iran 'is the biggest sponsor of terrorism in the world, and it is working
on destabilizing the region. If it wants to build good relations with its
neighbors, it ought to deal with them based on the good neighborliness
principle and not to interfere in their affairs. We [would] welcome such
a step.'" http://t.uani.com/1Q4p1T3
Anti-Americanism
Tasnim (Iran):
"Iran's Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani rejected the
notion of any normalization of ties between Tehran and Washington,
warning Iranian officials to be mindful of the US hostility towards the
country. 'We recommend the (Iranian) politicians and diplomatic
body to adjust their behavior proportional to the Americans' conduct, and
to be aware that it is impossible to make friends with the enemy,'
Ayatollah Amoli Larijani said in a gathering of senior judiciary
officials on Monday. Enumerating a litany of US crimes and hostile
actions against Iran, the top official stressed the need for Iran's
reaction on the basis of realities and the West's approach." http://t.uani.com/1Lf6Zt3
Tasnim (Iran):
"Head of Iran's Civil Defense Organization Brigadier General Gholam
Reza Jalali raised the alarm about a shift in the nature of threats
following the implementation of a final nuclear deal between Iran and
world powers... Calling for plans to study the new threats in the
post-JCPOA era, General Jalali referred to industrial espionage and
foreign access to data on the country's infrastructures as some of these
threats. He also stressed the need for the formation of a body to
specifically monitor the US moves as well as American officials' words
and deeds after the JCPOA." http://t.uani.com/1Rsawtl
Extremism
AFP:
"Iran has threatened to boycott next week's Frankfurt Book Fair
because organisers have invited the author Salman Rushdie, who still has
a fatwa against him, as a guest speaker. Rushdie, a British citizen who
now lives in the United States, was made subject of the fatwa -- a
religious edict that called for his killing -- in 1988, when his fourth
novel, The Satanic Verses, was published. The Islamic republic's founder,
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued the order after he and many others in
the Muslim world said Rushdie had depicted the prophet Muhammad
irreverently... Iran's Deputy Culture Minister Abbas Salehi told the ISNA
news agency on Monday that it was against Rushdie's presence at the
Frankfurt fair, one of the world's largest book festivals. 'When we
learned of the presence of Salman Rushdie at the book fair in Frankfurt,
we sent a letter of protest and called on other Muslim countries to do
the same,' Salehi was quoted as saying. 'In the coming days, we will try
to convince the leaders of the fair to change their mind. We will
seriously consider not participating,' he said of the October 14-18 event
in Germany." http://t.uani.com/1FRBSYE
Foreign Affairs
Press TV (Iran):
"Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan says
Muslim countries need to keep vigilant against Saudi Arabia's crimes,
including the recent deadly Mina crush and Riyadh's military aggression
against Yemen. In a Sunday message to his Lebanese counterpart Samir
Moqbel, the Iranian minister said Saudi rulers' lack of foresight and
mismanagement are the reasons behind the tragic stampede in Mina during
the Hajj pilgrimage rituals. 'This terrible catastrophe along with
inhumane crimes by Saudi rulers against the oppressed and defenseless
Yemeni people, which are a reminder of the Zionist regime's cruel crimes
in Lebanon and Palestine, raises the alarm that [such crimes] should be
stopped through absolute vigilance and prudence of Muslim countries,'
Dehqan said." http://t.uani.com/1OiBLXc
Mehr (Iran):
"Secretary for the Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaie stated that
Saudi government should not misuse Iran's gentleness and patience and
advised them not to play with fire. With high preparedness, the Iranian
nation counter and thwart any threatening attacks in the same way it did
in the past decades when Israeli regime and USA failed to reach their
goals in their attacks against Iran, Mohsen Rezaie said addressing
special law enforcement units... He said those sponsoring attacks to
Yemen and killing Yemeni people, are those who are in charge of the Holy
Shrines in Saudi Arabia. They are now pioneering division and are acting
as servants of their Israeli and US masters." http://t.uani.com/1OjqHL3
Opinion &
Analysis
Robert Satloff &
James Jeffrey in The American Interest: "After
lamely calling for Assad's departure for four years, one cannot fault
America's regional allies for interpreting President Obama's cynical
acceptance of Assad's continued and open-ended rule as a blessing of
sorts for the muscular defense of the embattled Syrian leader by the new
Russia-Iran axis. How did we get caught in this muddle? How did the
perfectly natural American outrage at the brutal nihilists of ISIS
shape-shift into a supine response to the most direct and serious Russian
challenge to America's global position in four decades, a nonchalant
acceptance of Iran's deployment of troops and materiel to the
Mediterranean littoral, and a willingness to legitimize the continued
rule of a maniacal despot responsible for more than a quarter million
killed and the depopulation of nearly half his entire country? The answer
is that this policy is the logical extension of a principle that has been
at the heart of President Obama's approach to the Middle East for the
past seven years. This is the idea that the world had consigned to
history '20th-century threats' to global peace - especially, the appetites
for power, prestige, and wealth of voracious states-leaving in its wake
only the still serious but very different '21st-century challenges' of
failed states, climate change, and so on. As applied by the Obama
Administration, this idea has had three corollaries. The, first,
following the Bush Administration and public opinion in the wake of the
September 11 attacks, is that Sunni jihadist terrorism-represented first
by al-Qaeda and now by ISIS, a threat fueled by the blinding corruption,
ideological extremism, and gross mismanagement of Sunni-led
states-represents an existential threat to the West, akin to the
thousands of Soviet warheads once aimed at American cities. Against this
threat, it is legitimate to deploy American military assets, but only in
targeted and limited ways, such as dispatching Seal Team Six to kill
Osama bin Laden. That is because of the second corollary, which holds
that America cannot and should not wield power to navigate the threats of
disorder the way it wielded power to confront traditional aggressors;
indeed, wielding such power (so the argument goes) only aggravates some
of the most dangerous threats we face and diverts us from the alleged
real job of 'fixing' the root social and political causes of disorder.
But the 21st-century world is also one of opportunities, not just
limitations. One such opportunity was the third corollary-the opportunity
to bring Iran in from the cold, where it could be transformed from a
radical, nuclear-proliferating, renegade state into a rule-abiding,
status quo partner in the fight against the jihadists. Each of these
ideas is wrong. Some are obviously wrong; clearly, for instance,
rapacious states have survived into the postmodern era, and old-fashioned
force must sometimes be used to protect our allies and interests against
them. As for Iran, whatever the wisdom of a narrow arrangement to
postpone its nuclear weapons ambitions, it is farcical to believe that
the Supreme Leader can be a true partner of the United States in any
common enterprise. The spectacle of American diplomats chasing after the
Iranians at the United Nations last week to engage their help in an array
of regional concerns, only to be rebuffed, was both sad and revealing...
The important priority is preventing the Russian-Iran alliance from
demolishing the regional security system by establishing a substantial
security presence inside Syria, from which the two could-separately and
together-project power throughout the Levant, cynically exacerbate the
refugee crisis, and advance security, diplomatic, and possibly even
energy policies to protect their friends and interests. Taken together,
the Administration's wrong assumptions led it to an analysis that
misreads the Middle East situation and a set of policies that
misprioritizes the urgent (rolling back ISIS) over the important
(preventing anti-American, anti-Western powers from rearranging Middle
East security to their benefit). But it's not too late. If the
Russian-Iranian power-play in Syria, like the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan
a generation ago, compels the President to reassess his policy, he will
find that has realistic options." http://t.uani.com/1j3WqlV
Phillip Smyth in
WINEP: "Recent online activities show that various
Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite militias have greatly expanded their
recruitment efforts in support of the Assad regime, including numerous
reports of significant battlefield action. On September 21, the Wall
Street Journal reported that forces under the command of Iran, Russia,
and Bashar al-Assad were coordinating efforts to secure the Syrian
regime. As Moscow sends advanced aircraft, armored vehicles, and more,
Iran's Iraqi Shiite proxies have simultaneously stepped up their
recruitment and deployment for the Syria war. Since July, their
Syria-focused online campaigns have jumped significantly (see chart),
morphing from infrequent mentions in late 2014/early 2015 to a
full-fledged recruitment program involving a number of newer
Iranian-backed groups. These Shiite fighters are now spread across Syria,
primarily in the western part of the country, launching operations from
the suburbs of Damascus to Idlib. Following the June 2014 seizure
of Mosul and much of northern Iraq by the so-called Islamic State/ISIS, a
group called Kataib al-Imam Ali (KIA) announced its creation (for more on
this militia, see PolicyWatch 2352, 'Kataib al-Imam Ali: Portrait of an
Iraqi Shiite Militant Group Fighting ISIS'). Formed by Iranian-controlled
splinter elements from Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army, KIA is probably best
known for its fierce battlefield reputation and particularly gory videos
featuring severed heads and men being cooked above open flames. When
compared to other organizations, KIA's Syria-focused recruitment and
propaganda campaign has been the largest. Using messages issued via its
offices, billboards, and social media, the group has actively recruited
new members, especially around Najaf, Iraq. These efforts began with
online imagery connecting its fighters with Sayyeda Zainab, an important
Shiite shrine near Damascus. Other posts have announced that Jaafar
al-Bindawi, the militia's former head of training and logistics, would be
leading the deployment in Syria, while Ali Nizam would serve as the new
logistical director for Syrian affairs. While this effort marks the group's
first publicized deployments to Syria, KIA is no newcomer to the war.
Prior to its formal creation, and with Iranian assistance, elements of
the militia were very active in Syria beginning in 2013. Alaa Hilayl, one
of the group's heavily glorified 'martyrs' and leader of its submilitia
Kataib Malik al-Ashtar, was one of the first Shiite commanders to
publicly announce combat operations in the Aleppo area in spring 2013.
Meanwhile, Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (HHN, a.k.a. 'The Hezbollah
Movement of the Outstanding,' or simply Harakat al-Nujaba) has been the
other main Iraqi Shiite player in Syria recruitment, and its background
is similar to KIA's. HHN emerged from Iranian-controlled Sadrist splinter
group Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) in 2013 and is led by that group's
cofounder, Sheikh Akram Kaabi. The militia was an early provider of
fighters to Syria and one of the first Iraqi Shiite forces to announce
its involvement in battles in the Aleppo area. Initially, HHN had three
submilitias operating in Syria, but these units have received less
attention of late. Demonstrating the interconnected nature of KIA and
HHN, both groups posted images of KIA secretary-general Shebl al-Zaidi
and HHN's Kaabi going over maps and targets in late July. The connection
was further emphasized following the September 19 death of HHN's Aleppo
commander Alaa al-Musawi -- both groups commemorated him as a 'martyr'
who had fallen during the 'defense of sacred sites' in Syria...
Attrition is eating away at Assad's forces, and pressure has also
increased on Iran's main proxy, Lebanese Hezbollah. Following Sunni
jihadist and other Syrian rebel advances over large tracts of territory,
particularly those close to the coastal Alawite heartland, more pro-Assad
forces were needed to secure these zones and push the enemy back. Iran's
Iraqi Shiite proxies are helping to provide those numbers. And given the
legitimacy that HHN and especially KIA have gained from battlefield
successes, their recent recruitment campaigns are bolstering the Iranian narrative
that deployments in Syria are key to defeating ISIS in Iraq. Although
Iran could call on other loyal and established Iraqi Shiite proxies,
newer groups have been given control of some recruitment efforts, at
least temporarily. In addition to the fact that established proxies are
still fighting hard in Iraq, creating new groups to do this work allows
Iran to further obfuscate its role in Syria. The shared organizational
origins and ongoing close relations between some of these groups also
indicates that they are not as fragmented as they appear, and their
operations in Syria may be a way to build loyalty and showcase their role
in the larger Iranian-controlled 'Islamic Resistance' network.
Furthermore, as the presence of Iraqi Shiite fighters in Syria becomes
more commonplace, the sense of a unified front, devoid of other political
realities and goals held by Iran, may become a reality." http://t.uani.com/1jMn4Rd
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