Home pagePress CenterIn the Media Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS Middle East Program, was quoted by Reuters, "Iraq and U.S. to Urge Arabs to Boost Ties with Baghdad."
In the Media | Detail
Jon Alterman, director of the CSIS Middle East Program, was quoted by Reuters, "Iraq and U.S. to Urge Arabs to Boost Ties with Baghdad."
Iraq and the United States will press Arab nations to strengthen ties with the Baghdad government at a meeting in Kuwait on Tuesday at a time when Iran's influence in the war-racked country is growing.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who will attend the meeting of Iraq's neighbors, said last week she wants Arab states to shield Iraq from Iran's "nefarious influences." [...]
Clashes have erupted again with the Mehdi Army militia of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, but the Iranian intervention showed Tehran's clout in Iraq, said Jon Alterman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington thinktank.
"It is not coincidental that the Iranian president travelled to Iraq in a visit that was announced long in advance or that the Iranians were deeply involved in the ceasefire with the Mehdi Army," Alterman said.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a private, tax-exempt institution focusing on international public policy issues. Its research is nonpartisan and nonproprietary. CSIS does not take specific policy positions; accordingly, all views, positions, and conclusions expressed in these publications should be understood to be solely those of the authors.
