Iran-linked attacks on US forces in Syria rekindle Iraq border concerns

Tit-for-tat attacks by US and Iran-linked forces in eastern Syria have raised regional tension levels and questions about Iraq’s control of its western border and an area long controlled by Kataib Hezbollah in the center of the country.
DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images
This aerial view shows troops from the Syrian Democratic Forces special operations and the US-led anti-jihadist coalition taking part in heavy-weaponry exercises in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor in northeastern Syria, on March 25, 2022. - DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images
Shelly Kittleson.jpg
Shelly Kittleson
@shellykittleson

BAGHDAD — The stepped-up targeting of bases in eastern Syria by Iran-linked militias consisting mainly of Iraqi nationals has raised alarms once again about the country’s borders.

Continuing cross-border movement of men and weapons by Iraqi armed groups linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has long been of concern but relatively little has been done to stop it for various political reasons. 

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