Comparing Iraq's Shiite forces to Iran's Basij - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Abbas Qaidaari

Abbas Qaidaari

May 11, 2015

Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) forces allied with Iraqi forces chant slogans against the Islamic State in Tikrit March 30, 2015. Iraqi security forces continued their offensive against Islamic State militants on the outskirts of Tikrit on Monday, in an operation slowed by bombs and booby traps. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani - RTR4VI58 — Popular Mobilization Units allied with Iraqi forces chant slogans against the Islamic State in Tikrit, March 30, 2015. — REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani

A fighter from the Shi'ite Badr Brigade militia wears a religious flag as he fires towards the air at a checkpoint recently taken from militants of the Islamic State outside the town of Amerli September 5, 2014. The highway, which continues south to Baghdad, is now controlled by Shi'ite militia fighters and the Kurdish Peshmerga. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR45475

Iran's new group in Iraq: Saraya al-Khorasani

Abbas Qaidaari

Fighters of Hashed Al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization units) gather around the Tal Afar airport, west of Mosul, as they and Iraqi forces backed by local militia and a US-led coalition advance in driving the Islamic State group from the city, on August 27, 2017.
Just a week after authorities announced an offensive to push the jihadists from one of their last major urban strongholds in Iraq, the Joint Operations Command said Iraqi forces held all 29 districts of the city and were pursuing final mopping up opera

Shiite militias react angrily to decree integrating them into Iraqi forces

Ali Mamouri

Iraq's President Barham Salih meets with Iran's President Hassan Rouhani in New York, U.S., September 25, 2019. Picture taken September 25, 2019.The Presidency of the Republic of Iraq Office/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC17C7ED7020

Is Iran expanding its influence in Iraq?

Ali Mamouri

Iraqi Shiite Muslim men from Hashid Shaabi (Popular Mobilization) march during a parade marking the annual al-Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Baghdad, July 10, 2015. REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani - RTX1JV9P

Iraq's child soldiers

A correspondent in Tehran

A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics