Analysis: Iran Playing Role in Iraq-Syria Relationship

Writing for the Washington Institute of Near East Policy, David Pollack and Ahmad Ali illuminate the growing ties between Baghdad and Damascus, and suggest that Washington policymakers must address this issue.

Pollack and Ali assert that “Iraq has stood out in its continuing loyalty to the [Assad] regime” economically and politically. Additionally, they point out that Iraq is susceptible to external pressure, particularly from Iran, to continue supporting al-Assad because Baghdad remains weak, unstable, preoccupied with its own serious internal problems, and “sandwiched between Iran and Syria.”

The authors also contend that U.S. officials should discretely lobby their Iraqi counterparts to distance themselves immediately from al-Assad, and that Iraqi officials privately worry that al-Assad’s ouster would cause Tehran to redouble its intervention in Iraqi affairs to compensate for the loss of its Syrian ally.