A silent shift is taking place in West Asia, with former arch-rivals Iran and Iraq forging a new alliance. This growing bond is evident in the recent establishment of offices by two powerful Iranian-backed militias – Hamas and the Houthis – in Baghdad within the past two months. While the Iraqi government has not officially confirmed this development, photographic evidence and media reports, including those from The New York Times, confirm the presence of these groups, considered proxies of Iran, in Baghdad.
The Houthis, a Shia group controlling a significant portion of Yemen, opened their office in Baghdad in July. Hamas, a largely Sunni group governing Gaza and currently engaged in a war with Israel for over 11 months, has recently set up its office in close proximity. The opening of these offices in Baghdad marks a significant turning point in Iraq’s alliances and highlights Iran’s growing influence in the West Asian region, despite strong American disapproval.
This development comes shortly after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s visit to Iraq, his first foreign tour, which resulted in the signing of 14 bilateral agreements. During a joint press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad, Pezeshkian declared, “The crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza expose the falsehood of Western countries and international organisations when it comes to human rights.” All this has transpired while the US continues to maintain its military presence in Iraq for over 20 years. Approximately 2,500 American troops remain stationed in Iraq, where the US recently conducted two major operations against the Islamic State, which is reported to have exploited the ongoing Gaza conflict to regroup and rearm.
The NYT report reveals that neither the Hamas nor the Houthi office in Baghdad has public signage, and their locations have been kept confidential. This move aligns with Iran’s broader strategy to unite its proxies and foster collaboration across borders. By facilitating the opening of these offices, Baghdad has emerged as a new hub in the shadow war between Iran, Israel, and the United States.
Sharing a border spanning over 1,000 kilometers, Iran and Iraq have a history of military conflicts. Soon after the Iranian revolution of 1979, which transformed the country into a Shia republic led by a religious figure – called Rahbar – Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein launched an invasion. This war lasted eight years – from 1980 to 1988. Iraq’s aggression was a response to Iran’s hardline Shia shift, instigated by a Sunni leader who governed an authoritarian regime over a country with a Shia majority.
The two nations continued to maintain hostile relations until 2003 when a US-led coalition force overthrew Saddam Hussein, who was later executed in the US. Hussein harbored fears that the Iranian revolution might spill over into Iraq and threaten his rule due to the sectarian Shia affinity with the neighboring country. The ousting of Saddam Hussein, who had maintained a secular government in Iraq and suppressed extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, to which Hamas was affiliated, provided a window of opportunity for Iran to rebuild its ties and strengthen its position in West Asia. For a long time, Iran remained largely isolated, facing a cold reception from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
In recent years, Iran has orchestrated what many believe to be a covert campaign to restore its relations with Iraq. The presence of the Houthis and Hamas offices is seen as a reflection of the delicate political situation in Iraq and Iran’s growing influence in the country. Reports suggest that despite many Iraqi officials’ discomfort with this development, they appear to lack the political leverage to resist Iran’s increasing influence. Social media has been flooded with photographs showcasing the presence of these groups in Iraq, highlighting the overt nature of this evolving situation.
Over the past 20 years, since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraq has struggled to maintain a balance in its relations with both Iran and the United States. While the US continues to deploy troops in the country, Iran’s influence has steadily grown. Iran has nurtured sympathetic forces – such as Shiite militias that have also gained political power – over the years, successfully embedding itself deeply within Iraq’s political and security apparatus. The rise of these Shiite militias, some of which were legitimized by Iraq’s government, has significantly altered the country’s political dynamics. The latest political agreement in Iraq establishes a Sunni Kurd as the president of the country, the official head of state, with the executive head of the government being a Shia Muslim and the parliament speaker a Sunni Arab. This arrangement has given Iran relative emotive superiority in Iraq, despite the country undergoing a constitutional transformation under US supervision. This explains why foreign groups like Hamas and the Houthis have established formal ties with Baghdad.
The establishment of these offices appears to be part of a larger, regional strategy by Iran, which has long sought to cultivate a “Shiite Crescent” of influence extending from Lebanon (via Hezbollah) to Yemen (via the Houthis). Now, Iraq seems to be playing a central role in this endeavor. Iran’s objective appears clear – to counter the influence of the US and Israel in West Asia. As part of this effort, Iranian-backed proxy groups, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis, collaborate on military operations and share intelligence. The ongoing Israeli war in Gaza has witnessed instances of what seemed like coordinated attacks on Israel from Lebanon and Yemen. Hezbollah has linked its attacks to the Israeli campaign in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the Houthis have repeatedly struck in the Red Sea, linking their strikes to Israeli assaults on Palestinians. Now, with Iran successfully integrating Iraq into what it calls the “axis of resistance” – against the West-Israel alliance – Tehran appears poised to dominate the region for the first time in decades.
There is little doubt that the US is not willing to engage in prolonged wars in Iraq. Its military campaigns have diminished in both number and scale. The American forces entered Iraq over 20 years ago in search of weapons of mass destruction and achieved a swift victory over Saddam Hussein’s forces. Iraq subsequently experienced a near-decade-long civil war. While no weapons of mass destruction were discovered, the US lost over 4,400 troops. These facts turned US public opinion against maintaining a military presence in Iraq. However, approximately 2,500 American troops remain stationed there, but their military operations are limited.
There is also a growing recognition within the US administration that it cannot maintain its forces to prevent an insurgent group, such as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria or the Taliban in Afghanistan, from seizing power if the local population supports such militias. This shift in US policy has provided an opportunity for Iran to gain further ground in Iraq, where sectarian groups wield significant influence over various regions.
The presence of Iranian-backed groups in Iraq, however, has raised concerns about potential Israeli retaliatory strikes within Iraq. Should this occur, the regional balance will be further distorted. Another aspect that may come into play as Iraq deepens its engagement with Hamas and the Houthis is the potential for those influenced by the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology to aid the Gazan Palestinian group in regrouping. Similarly, those influenced by hardline Shia ideology are likely to stand behind the Houthis. Iraq may be on the cusp of becoming a battleground for another sectarian rivalry as West Asia finds itself engulfed in multilateral military conflicts with the potential to escalate into a regional war.
