Is Iran seeking to impose its influence in Iraq's liberated Sunni areas?
The opening of a school in Ninevah province under the name of Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, stirred a wide debate within political and public circles in Iraq, as some saw the move as an attempt to provoke some Iraqis.
BAGHDAD — On Sept. 14, an elementary school was inaugurated in Bartella in Ninevah province. The school, funded by Iran, was named after the leader of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
Iraq’s Sunni population, specifically in Ninevah province, associates Khomeini with the Iran-Iraq War that lasted from 1980 to 1988. The image of the former leader of the Islamic Revolution brings back dark memories for the people in the Iraqi province.
The opening of the “Imam Khomeini school” in a Sunni area stirred angry reactions. Activists and politicians in the city of Mosul considered the move “a provocation” toward the people of the province and an attempt to impose Iranian agendas through this institution.
Khomeini’s name was printed on a large banner that was hung on one of the school’s tallest buildings. The school was registered at the Ninevah Education Directorate under the name “Al-Zhara” school, according to Hussein Hamed, the director of the school buildings department at the Education Directorate in Ninevah province. The question arises as to why it now is being called the Khomeini school.
