According to Alaa al-Saffar, a political analyst and professor at the University of Mosul, the Shatt al-Arab waters are completely safe, without any piracy activities, but the Iranian-Iraqi maritime exercises were held to send a message to the Gulf states.
He told Al-Monitor that Tehran wanted to relay a message to the Gulf countries that its presence in Iraq is permanent and stable by virtue of the strategic relations between Baghdad and Tehran.
Saffar said that the Iranian influence in Basra province continues to increase, and that the maritime drills were carried out under direct supervision by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and with Iranian media coverage only. This speaks volume of Iran’s full freedom to act in Iraqi territory.
He added that the Iraqi officials are turning a blind eye to the political goals behind these maneuvers, considering them in terms of security reasons only.
For his part, Murtada al-Shahmani, the chairman of the ports committee in Basra, told Al-Monitor, “The maneuvers are tactical exercises to inaugurate the new Iraqi command between the Basra council and the leadership of the border zone." He said that the exercise went well, further improving Iraqi and Iranian naval capabilities, in terms of boats, equipment and skills.
Shahmani said that the maneuvers are part of the information exchange between Iraq’s neighboring countries and to benefit from the intelligence system, he claimed it was necessary that Iraq's coast be protected against piracy, drug smuggling and fishermen coming through Iran.
He added that the Basra provincial council called upon the commanders of the maritime border forces to carry on with the exercises in order to support and develop the Iraqi naval forces.
The Shatt al-Arab has been suffering erosion on the Iraqi side, resulting in the loss of 100 acres of land each year, due to neglect, large numbers of sunken ships and sediment at the bottom of the Karun River. This has caused more sedimentary rocks to appear on the Iranian side, which raises concerns about Iran’s control over the oil-rich areas on the border that are currently owned by Iraq.
Comments are closed.