Three years ago, the world rejoiced when Iraqi forces liberated the ancient city of Mosul from the brutal rule of ISIS and Iraqi pinned hopes to rebuild their shattered lives.
However today, a different battle plays out.
Taking place largely behind the scenes, from legislative halls that overlook the city’s bombed-out streets to hotel meeting rooms in Baghdad, it is a power struggle among parties, politicians and militiamen. Some are backed by Iran. Others favor the United States.
At stake: political control of Nineveh province, of which Mosul is capital – a region rich in natural resources and a link in a supply route from Tehran to the Mediterranean. The route serves Iran-backed militias, Washington’s fiercest enemy here since the defeat of ISIS, Reuters reported.
Iran’s allies had been winning. They installed a governor favored by Tehran a year ago. But then anti-government protests, US sanctions and the assassination of Iran’s military mastermind Qassem Soleimani challenged Iranian influence. The pro-Western camp replaced the Nineveh governor with a longtime US ally. The contest mirrors a wider struggle over the future of Iraq itself.
Over the span of a year, around 20 Iraqi officials involved in the political tussle over Nineveh described to Reuters how Iran and its allies developed the networks to influence local government, how pro-Western officials tried to hit back, and how this tug of war has crippled Mosul’s recovery. If any side prevails, many of these insiders believe, it will ultimately be the side aligned with Iran.
For his part, Nineveh councilor Ali Khdeir says Iran helps its allies with money, political backing and sticks with them, meanwhile Washington in contrast, “has left no real mark on Iraq.”
Mosul, meanwhile, lies largely in ruins. Traffic snarls across battered bridges and disabled war victims sell tissues, cigarettes and tea at junctions - the kind of misery that Iraqi officials fear is the perfect breeding ground for ISIS to reemerge.
A spokesperson for the US Department of State accused Iran of working “overtime to dominate every aspect of Iraq’s political and economic life.”
The United States is committed to helping Iraq build its economic prospects and improve stability and security, said the spokesperson, Morgan Ortagus.
However, a spokesperson for Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York, Alireza Miryousefi, insisted: “Iran does not interfere in Iraq’s internal affairs.”
The Iraqi government didn’t respond to detailed questions for this article. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi told Reuters in response to a question about Mosul that corruption and political infighting hampered the city’s recovery, but denied it was part of a proxy contest.
The political contest for Nineveh is part of a wider picture across Iraq’s northern provinces, former strongholds of Saddam Hussein which hold strategic value for Tehran - and where Washington wants to curb Iranian influence.
Twenty local government officials, Baghdad lawmakers and tribal leaders told Reuters how Iran then deepened its political influence until it had allies in almost every provincial administration.
They said two powerful Sunnis were central to such efforts in Nineveh and are Khamis al-Khanjar, an Anbar businessman turned politician, and Ahmed al-Jabouri, widely known as Abu Mazen, a former governor of Salahuddin province, now sitting in the Iraqi parliament.
Khanjar was an outspoken opponent of Iran while Abu Mazen was once a US ally.
In 2018, Khanjar and Abu Mazen unexpectedly joined a bloc of Iran-backed parties. Then, in May 2019, Khanjar and Abu Mazen intervened in the selection of Nineveh’s new governor, according to nine sources, including several members of the regional administrative council and relatives of the two men.
A majority of Nineveh’s 39 councilors, tasked with electing the new governor, initially favored a candidate critical of Iran, these sources said. But two days before the council was due to vote, Abu Mazen and Khanjar invited nearly two dozen council members to a meeting.
They were promised local government posts or payments of up to $300,000 apiece from the men or their offices if they voted for a different candidate, Mansour al-Mareid, who was favored by Iran and its allies in Baghdad, these people said. One council member told Reuters he accepted money and used it to buy a new home.
Khanjar denied that votes were bought.
“I didn’t pay a single dinar,” he said.
Mareid, the winning candidate, said he had no knowledge of bribes being given to councilors and he denied any loyalty to Iran.
Within a few months the pendulum had swung again.
The United States imposed sanctions on Iran-aligned militia leaders and on their Iraqi Sunni allies – among them Abu Mazen in July and Khanjar in December.
Abu Mazen felt under pressure as a result of the US move, said a relative and five Nineveh councilors. The measures helped persuade Abu Mazen, these sources said, to withdraw support for Mareid and back a former military commander and US ally, Najm al-Jabouri to replace him as governor.
In November, 23 of the council’s 39 members voted to dismiss Mareid and appoint Jabouri.
