US and Iraq try to contain Iran weapons smuggling

US officials and analysts say Iranian infiltration and smuggling are part of a multilayered effort to extend Iran's influence in Iraq. Bilateral trade is now worth billions of dollars a year, and Iran is also allegedly funding some Iraqi political parties.

"Certainly it would shock me if the Quds force wasn't running all over Iraq," says Brian Fishman, a research fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point who has written extensively on Iranian strategy in Iraq. "One of the things we found is that the networks they use to channel weapons and money to Iraqi insurgents were the same networks they were using to funnel weapons and money to opponents of Saddam [Hussein] – those networks have been in place for a long time."

Iraqi security forces have made huge strides since the US disbanded them in 2003, but almost all the efforts to rebuild the Army have focused on maintaining internal security rather than defending against external threats from Iraq's five neighbors. "We are still a weak country, and until we can become stronger, everyone will try to interfere," says a senior adviser to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Maysan, with its vast marshlands, has always been on the outer limits of Iraqi law. During Mr. Hussein's rule, it was home to Iraqi dissidents, and Iranian fighters crossed the border with ease. Hussein responded by draining the marshes. After the 2003 war, the British military-­controlled area became a haven for competing Shiite militias that eventually took over the local government. Though the central government has since reasserted its presence, the province remains a caldron of competing political interests, many with ties to Iran.

Along this border are also oil wells that tap into reservoirs that run under both countries. A dispute over one of the wells came close to gunfire two years ago when Iranian border police prevented Iraqi engineers from approaching an Iraqi well on the frontier. The Iraqis now carefully monitor local Iranian activity – recently reporting a survey team near the wells.

The Iranian survey team is believed to have been involved in building a defensive berm, say US officials.

The relationship between the two neighbors is one of the most complex in the region. The countries both have Shiite majorities, but apart from spiritual matters Iraq's Arabs and Iran's Persians feel little affinity for each other, particularly after the bitter Iran-Iraq War.

"We don't want Iran to interfere," said a worshiper during Friday prayers in Sadr City recently when asked about Iranian influence in the coming elections. "We don't like Iran. Iran destroyed us."•

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