WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2020) US military intelligence sees cracks in Iran's influence in Iraq as it struggles to find an adequate replacement for commander Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi Muhandis killed in an American air strike earlier this year, the Inspector General for Operation Inherent Resolve said in a quarterly report on Wednesday.
"The DIA� [Defense Intelligence Agency] reported... that the deaths of Soleimani and al Muhandis left a void in the command and control of Iraqi Shia militias and Shia militia-affiliated political parties," the reports says. "According to the DIA, multiple other Iranian and Iraqi officials seek to fill these roles, although none is likely to achieve the level of effective control Soleimani or al Muhandis held in the near term."
In early January, a US strike in Baghdad killed an Iraqi Shia militia commander Abu Mahdi Muhandis and Qasem Soleimani, chief of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. Washington alleged that both were involved in an attack on the US Embassy late last year.
The report describes Soleimani's replacement, Esmail Ghani, as "a bureaucrat" rather than "a charismatic leader" that the former was.
"The DIA added that Ghani is less equipped to handle the political and security aspects of the Qods-Force's Iraq portfolio because he spent much of his career focusing on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia, does not speak Arabic, and lacks Soleimani's personal connections in Iraq," the report said.
The intelligence believes the selection of Muhandis's replacement within the Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of Iraqi paramilitary organizations, also proves problematic and may have caused divisions among Shia militias, a conduit of Iranian influence in the country.
"According to the DIA, former Kata'ib Hezbollah Secretary General Abd al 'Aziz al Muhammadawi, commonly known as Abu Fadak, has been nominated as the new Chief of Staff of the PMC following al Muhandis's death, although he has not yet been officially installed in the position," the report said. "The DIA said Abu Fadak is seen as Iran's choice and does not have the support of Iraqi Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani and the Shia clerical leadership in Iraq."
It cites press reports saying that some Shia militias aligned with Sistani have publicly rejected Abu Fadak's selection and have expressed interest in integrating into Iraq's Ministry of Defense and separating from the PMC.
