Iran Hopes to Use ‘Winning Strategy’ of Syria in Iraq

June 30th, 2014

David Schulberg

Comments by Iran’s Deputy Joint Chief of Staff Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri suggest Iran is poised to dramatically escalate its involvement in the defense of the Iraqi government.

Brig. Gen. Jazayeri, a top Revolutionary Guard figure, says Iran’s response to ISIS will be “certain and serious,” and said his country is planning to copy the “winning strategy” used in the Syrian Civil War to Iraq.

Exactly what the “Syria strategy” entails was unclear, but Jazayeri talked of mobilizing masses of ethnic groups to the defense of the Iraqi state, saying the “popular defense” effort was already under way.

The big question then becomes how much of a “winning strategy” Syria has actually been, as while the area around Damascus is comparatively secure, the northern half and eastern half of the nation are pretty much entirely under rebel control, with ISIS carving out its new “Islamic State” as much out of Syria as Iraq.