Iran’s Takeover of Iraq Threatens Mass Christian Exodus

Iran’s pressure on Christian communities in Iraq is escalating, now threatening their very existence. The principal military component of Iran’s grip on Iraq, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), has supposedly come under greater scrutiny from the Iraqi government. Yet, Iran’s assaults on Iraq’s Christian communities are only increasing. Any scrutiny by the Iraqi government, such as the likely insincere discussions about the disarmament and dissolution of the PMF, is undermined by Iran’s recent provision of long-range missiles to these militias. In the broader context of the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, promises to disband the PMF would be an obvious ploy for Iran to defer scrutiny while reconstituting its proxies amid recent losses inflicted by the U.S. and its regional partners. Even if Iran appears to accommodate the U.S. for these purposes, its recent activities in Iraq demonstrate a continuous resolve to hijack vulnerable states, as in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.