BAGHDAD, Iraq — Esmail Qaani, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, conducted a significant visit to Baghdad this week following a prolonged absence from public appearances, according to Western and regional sources. The visit occurred against the backdrop of escalating Iranian-backed activity across the Middle East, particularly as Israel wages a defensive war against the Axis of Resistance—an alliance of terror militias backed by Tehran.
The Quds Force, as the extraterritorial operations unit of the IRGC, serves as the linchpin of Iran’s strategy to export its revolutionary ideology and power. Since succeeding Qassem Soleimani in 2020 after his targeted killing by a U.S. drone strike, Qaani has operated largely in the shadows, overseeing the expansion and coordination of Tehran’s proxy networks in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and Yemen. His arrival in Baghdad follows renewed attacks by Iranian-armed militias on U.S. and allied targets and signals Tehran’s intent to tighten its grip on Iraq’s security and political apparatus.
Iranian Proxies and the Baghdad Meeting
Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias, organized chiefly under Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), have been central to Iran’s campaign to expel U.S. influence and undermine Iraqi sovereignty. The Quds Force arms, trains, and finances these groups, with many acting independently of Baghdad’s control. In recent months, these militias have deployed rockets and drones against Western military bases, seeking to pressure a full coalition withdrawal and transform Iraq into a staging ground for the broader Iranian agenda.
Regional intelligence reports indicate that Qaani’s meetings in Baghdad included senior militia leaders and pro-Iran political operatives. The focus was on consolidating command structures, intelligence-sharing, and operational planning amid growing fissures within the PMF. Credible sources suggest that Iran is striving to restore discipline among its many proxies, some of which have lately pursued their own interests and risked direct confrontation with Iraqi authorities.
Escalation After the October 7 Massacre
Iran’s direct hand in regional destabilization became unmistakable after the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre, the deadliest single attack on Jews since the Holocaust. The atrocities, planned and executed by Hamas and facilitated through years of Iranian training, weaponry, and funding, drew a decisive Israeli military response. In the ensuing Iron Swords War, Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen have attacked both Israeli and Western targets, aiming to widen the conflict and stretch Israeli defenses on multiple fronts.
Qaani’s Baghdad visit comes at a moment when Iran’s coordination of proxy attacks has noticeably intensified, transforming Iraq not only into a frontline in the proxy war but also a critical logistics hub for the smuggling of advanced weaponry to terror organizations across the region.
Impact on Iraqi Sovereignty and Regional Security
While successive Iraqi governments have sought to assert control, Iran’s pervasive influence over militia groups continues to erode national sovereignty. Interviews with Iraqi officials and Western diplomats highlight mounting concerns about the militias’ ability to operate with impunity, undermining both law and order and Iraq’s international standing. Many of these militias answer directly to Iran, rather than the Iraqi chain of command, posing an enduring threat to the country’s future stability.
For Israel, the threat from Iraq is multi-dimensional. Not only do the militias constitute a direct strategic threat—potentially launching rockets or facilitating the flow of precision missiles and drones to Israel’s adversaries—but they also form part of an Iranian effort to encircle and pressure the Jewish state through asymmetric warfare. Israeli intelligence officials, speaking on background, stress that Quds Force’s ability to operate across borders raises the risks of a major regional escalation, especially if hostilities with Hezbollah or other Iranian proxies intensify.
U.S. and International Reactions
The United States, which maintains several thousand troops in Iraq for counterterrorism operations, has repeatedly condemned Iranian interference and conducted limited airstrikes against militia targets in response to attacks. U.S. defense and State Department officials have cautioned that a full American withdrawal would cede Iraq to Iranian influence and allow the Quds Force to strengthen its operational base unimpeded.
Israel, for its part, continues to advocate for coordinated international action to constrain the Quds Force and its proxies, urging allies to expand sanctions and enhance intelligence-sharing. Israeli leaders have emphasized that their campaign against Iranian-backed terror is both a matter of self-defense and critical to upholding regional security.
Historical Context and Strategic Implications
Iran’s systematic use of proxy militias dates back to the founding of Hezbollah in the early 1980s and has since expanded to include groups from Gaza to Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. The Quds Force’s operational blueprint consists of training, arming, and embedding loyalist groups within vulnerable or unstable states, using them to project influence, attack enemy states, and intimidate regional rivals.
Qaani’s Baghdad mission is thus not an isolated event but part of a broader Iranian strategy to fill every vacuum created by Western reluctance and local instability. Security analysts warn that, so long as Iranian-backed militias are permitted to operate in Iraq and beyond, the prospects for peace and genuine sovereignty in the Middle East will remain bleak.
Conclusion
Quds Force chief Esmail Qaani’s high-profile visit to Baghdad is a clear signal of Iran’s persistent efforts to dominate Iraq and leverage its territory for broader campaigns against Israel and the West. The visit highlights the entrenched challenge of Iranian terror proxies in the heart of the Arab world and underscores the necessity of a unified front to prevent further escalation. As Israel defends itself on multiple fronts and the U.S. considers its regional posture, the enduring threat posed by the IRGC and its Quds Force remains at the center of the Middle East’s most dangerous crisis.
