Iran has stepped up its military presence in Baghdad, sending senior commanders in the Revolutionary Guard and intelligence services to co-ordinate Iraq’s response to the mounting crisis.
The officers arrived in the Iraqi capital last week and are now leading the counter-offensive against Isis.
Among the team in Baghdad, according to an Iranian opposition group, are Abdul Reza Shahlai and Mustafa Abdollahi, who were implicated in a 2011 plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador in Washington.
Iran’s spy chief, Qassem Suleimani, who is overseeing the Iraqi action, has also summoned General Iraj Masjedi and General Hamid Hosseini, two senior commanders in the quds force, the elite unit of the revolutionary guard. The deployment, reported by the Paris-based people’s mujahidin organisation of Iran, suggests that