Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared happy and proud during his recent visit to Iraq. It was clearly harvest time for the president, whose visit marked the success of Iran's strategy in the previous five years. Ahmadinejad was the first president, other than US President George W. Bush, to visit Iraq since the US invasion, but the visits of the two presidents could not have been more different. While Bush's three visits to the country were kept secret, the Iranian president's visit was highly publicised. He arrived in Baghdad and toured the city openly.
Iraqis reacted differently to the visit, on sectarian grounds. Shiite officials, including Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki welcomed the visit. Al Maliki commended Iran's positive role in supporting security and stability in Iraq, and urged Arab and Muslim countries to follow suit and support Iraq's political march. Shiite leader Abdulaziz Al Hakim also described Iran's role as positive.
Meanwhile, Sunni leaders showed their fear over the increasing Iranian influence, and demonstrations rocked Sunni cities such as Fallujah and Azamiah against the visit.
Ahmadinejad had a message, which is that politics and strategy can achieve much more than war. His visit to Iraq successfully conveyed his message, and achieved what could not be achieved through an eight-year war between Iraq and Iran that claimed the lives of more than a million people, caused over $1 trillion in losses to the economies of both countries and left behind a legacy of destruction. The visit also established the growing Iranian influence in Iraq, and sent strong messages to many parties at local, regional and international levels. The first message was addressed to Iraqis and Iranians, regarding the upcoming parliamentary elections and next year's presidential elections. It also conveyed a message to Iraq's GCC and Arab neighbours, which confirms beyond doubt that Iran is the most effective player among Iraq's neighbours.
Not the only one
The message sent to Washington said that Iran was not isolated, and revealed that the US occupation was not the only one in Iraq, but was joined by the unannounced Iranian occupation as well.
The Iranian president's statements when he arrived in Baghdad and went to the Green Zone under the US protection were quite interesting.
Iran succeeded in turning Iraq into a battleground to support its project and to force the US to hold three rounds of negotiations with it in the past year, with a fourth round that was planned but postponed many times. Negotiations were first put off by the Iranians after the assassination of Hezbollah's top military leader Emad Mughnieh, and later were postponed by the US following a third UN Security Council resolution against Iran.
That coincided with Ahmadinejad's visit to Iraq, and his statement that "Americans have to understand that Iraqi people do not like America".
Meanwhile, Arabs fear that there will be a major deal between the two countries at their expense.
Iraq was turned into the battlefield of the struggle between America's broader Middle East project, and the Iranian plan to resist and defeat it. Iran sought to involve the US in the Iraqi quagmire and make it pay dearly by turning its quick victory into a long war of attrition, which led the US administration and Bush to lose their popularity, and has diminished the chances of Republican presidential candidate John McCain winning the White House.
Iran later moved to the second phase of its project in Iraq by helping its Shiite allies get to power, including Al Dawa and Fadheela parties, the Supreme Islamic Council and the Al Sadr bloc, whose leaders have strong links to Iran and spent years in exile there.
The third step was to provide mostly Shiite and some Sunni militias and armed groups with the explosives that caused most of the injuries to US troops.
Apart from arms, Iran exports $2 billion worth of commodities to Iraq, turning the country into a market for its goods and Iraqis into consumers.
Ahmadinejad's visit to Iraq reminded Arabs of their absent role in this important country, and reminded the Americans of their strategic errors, which allowed Iran to become a key player.
It was also an indicator of the ongoing tension in our region, in which two countries with their own agendas fight for territories, nations and people.
Dr Abdullah Al Shayji is a Professor of Political Science and Head of the American Studies Unit at Kuwait University.
