The Iraqi Prime Minister on a visit to Tehran

The visit to Iran of the new Iraqi prime minister, Haidar al-Abadi, also Shiite, strengthens the ties between the two countries, especially in view of defense, for both, by the advance of the caliphate. Iran did not formally accede to the coalition against the Islamic state, but some of his men have already fought on the ground in Iraq, alongside the Kurdish Peshmerga being so, in fact, the first foreign country to use its actual in clashes conventional on the ground. The majority Shiite government in Baghdad is, from the beginning of hostilities, one of the main objectives of the Sunni jihadists: overthrow by force the government of Iraq would be a huge win militarily, that from the point of view of the media and would allow a propaganda unparalleled in the Sunni world. Just the anniversary of the Shiite Ashura religious festival took place several car bombings in the Iraqi capital, which resulted in deaths devine. The religious authorities and the government in Tehran has long been that they care for the attacks to the people and places of worship Shiites in Iraq, but so far have limited their action, perhaps even recommended by the Americans, fearful of turning the confrontation with the state Islamic in a war between Shiites and Sunnis. But in fact this is what is happening now, even if the Shia are only the main target of Sunni fundamentalists, who also pursue any other form of different religion. The concern of Tehran is not just about the persecution of the Shiites, but also the fear of attacks on their territory, closer and closer to the fighting, the latest of which took place only thirty miles from the Iranian border. In Iran there is fear of a possible contagion of radical extremism in parts of the country inhabited by minority Sunnis, who certainly could not enlarge too much conflict but to practice acts of terrorism. The international alliance against the caliphate and, first, the same as the USA, they do not need such an aggravation of the conflict and be able to count on the Iranian prefer that Tehran maintains a low profile. It is a view shared by the new Prime Minister of Baghdad, who preferred to engage the moderate Sunnis in the government, in contrast to its predecessor, to reverse the trend taken after the fall of Saddam, where the responsibility of the government of the country, instead of being shared between members of the two religious currents of Islam, were the responsibility of only the Shiites. This address caused as a reaction to the total management of power by Sunnis, during the regime of Saddam Hussein, it was considered one of the determinants of the success of the caliphate between Iraqi Sunni tribes. One of the parts of the strategy of Washington, to remove popular support to the Islamic state, was precisely to convince the government of Baghdad to be more inclusive with the Sunni component. This participation has, however fragile bases and a possible entry of Iranian troops in Iraqi territory would interrupt surely cooperation to the government of Iraq between Shiites and Sunnis. For this reason, in Tehran, the Iraqi Prime Minister reiterated that will not allow any foreign troops, and especially from a regional power in its territory to fight the Islamic state. It was a message, not so much directed against Iran, believing it to keep the low profile required by the USA and the circumstances, as the Sunni coalition to convince them that the visit to Iran was not made to take the help of Tehran . The policy of national reconciliation remains as the center of the strategy of the Iraqi government, although it is a fact that the geographical split of the country is more and more increasing, with the Kurds committed to win their sovereignty and the majority of the Sunnis still too far away by the central government.