Iraqi Militias See Iran’s Survival as Their Own, Former General Warns
Ali Hussain reports that Iraqi Shiite armed groups may be feeding a pipeline of recruits into Iran to help the Islamic Republic suppress protests. The Media Line could not verify how many fighters have crossed, but multiple sources described money, buses, and flight patterns that suggest coordination.
One mother said her 37-year-old son, Mohammed Iyad, was offered $600 a month by Kataib Hezbollah to “defend the Islamic Revolution.” She said he left Iraq on Jan. 6 through the Shalamcheh crossing near Basra and she lost contact when Iran’s internet went down. She described a man unable to shake the pull of combat after serving in the Popular Mobilization Forces and being dismissed after 2017.
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At Shalamcheh, an Iraqi Interior Ministry employee said more than 60 buses crossed by Jan. 11, labeled pilgrim convoys, yet packed only with young men in identical black shirts and allowed to pass without inspection. Abu Azrael of the Imam Ali Brigades posted video of military vehicles departing an Interior Ministry camp; whether the vehicles reached Iran remains unconfirmed.
The US State Department’s account said Washington is “alarmed” by reports that the regime has deployed “Hezbollah terrorists and Iraqi militants to suppress peaceful protests,” calling it “yet another profound betrayal of the Iranian people.”
The report also notes a Jan. 7 Iraq visit by the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, plus daily pro-regime rallies in Iraq’s Shiite provinces. Najaf airport data show a spike in Najaf-Tehran and Najaf-Mashhad flights, including unscheduled runs, in a hub used as a transit point for fighters.
Former Iraqi Gen. Ibrahim al-Khayyat said Iraqi militias see Iran’s survival as existential. Read Ali Hussain’s full story for the details behind the claims.
