Iraq’s developments in the post-Soleimani era

The recent developments in Iraq and the pressure on the forces of the resistance axis have made the empty place of the martyr Soleimani increasingly palpable. Who will play the major role in the post-Soleimani era?.

General Ismail Qaani, the new commander of Quds Force, made visits to Baghdad. Although the details of his meetings with politicians were not disclosed, many experts and analysts speculate that the visits were aimed to improve relations between the two countries (which have been damaged in recent months by tensions in Iraq between the Popular Resistance Forces and the United States). Other experts, such as Hisham al-Hashemi, a prominent Iraqi military security expert, believe that Shamkhani's visit to Baghdad was to resolve some of issues and disagreements that arose after Soleimani's martyrdom. It is reported that the missile attacks by the Axis of Resistance forces against American bases in Iraq are a source of great concern to many Iraqi officials. In fact, there is an analysis that the Resistance Front was upset after Soleimani’s martyrdom because Hajj Qassem had a deep knowledge from the region and could communicate with different groups in Iraq and Syria.

The other fact that complicates matters in Iraq is the bad economic situation, which has been exacerbated by the Coronavirus. The current situation has enabled forces operating against Iran in Iraq to exploit anti-Iranian sentiment in that country. Media propaganda intensified after the martyrdom of Soleimani, and some Iraqi media published daily reports about the Iraqi government's anger because presence of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Iraq.

Amidst all these challenges, establishing relations with the Iraqi Shiite authorities and influential politicians in this country could be the way to solve the problems, but this requires the Quds Force to interact with the professional diplomats in the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Many military and politicians believe that General Qaani will fill the empty of Soleimani