All the things in Iraq after 2003 to the present day served directly Iran, Politically , the latter has become dominant completely on Iraqi political system , both governmental and non-governmental , and economically ,the Iraqi economy gave great services to Iran as it contributed significantly to the alleviation of international economic sanctions imposed on it on the background of its nuclear program. And in security , Iran has owned Iraqi armed factions with its weight in the street and obey its orders .And militarily , Iraq was an Iranian corridor to provide military support to Bashar al-Assad to suppress the popular uprising that erupted against his rule in March 2011. And militarily also the emergence of the terrorist organization Daesh in the scene in June 2014 has enabled in achieving the Iranian strategy first in demolishing the Iraqi Sunni cities like Mosul, secondly finding a land corridor to link Tehran to its allies in Syria and Lebanon third to reach the shores of the Mediterranean.
Iraqi military services to Iran does not stop at this level but even more. According to information obtained by the Rawabet Center for research and strategic studies provide that a collusion was done inside the Iraqi Defense Ministry several months ago through an act of one of Iraqi armed factions to send an American tank, “Abrams” , an advanced defensive and offensive tank , to Iran. American tanks are famous for its high quality and combat ability since World War II to the present day. Perhaps the most prominent of these tanks and the most famous of our time, Al- Abrams , they were used in the second Gulf War, Afghanistan War, Iraq war 2003 and military intervention in Yemen.
The Abrams tanks of the most powerful in the world, highly mobile, designed for modern armored warfare ,it is well armed and heavily armored ., entered US service in 1980 ultimately replacing the M60 tank , a main battle tank in war with cannon 120 mm and two guns of 7.62 mm caliber. Al-Abrams depends , which weighs about 63 tons , on the AGT 1500 gas turbine engine of the type Teixturn Akomnj designed by Lycoming Turbine Engine Division with a speed of 67.6 km per hour .The tank consists of crew up numbering to 4 and enjoys with welded armors and device of protection from weapons of mass destruction in addition to devices to detect atomic radiation and gas warfare and advanced night vision system . For further protection, Al-Abrams also provided with two launchers on both sides of the tower and with equipments to produce smoke to hide.
Undoubtedly this military collusion in Iraq has provided military service to Iran so it can now to know the strengths and weaknesses of the tank “Abrams” and then work on the re-production of a tank completely similar to its specifications so-called reverse engineering. If Iran managed to manufacture it, it would be able then to sell old weapons to the Iraqi government, noting that Iraq has become after the year 2003, a loyal importer to all Iranian shoddy goods.
The US administration is very upset by this collusion because it felt that there was a military insult against it, so it exerts great pressure on the Iraqi government to retrieve a tank “Abrams”, and this collusion put the Iraqi government in a very critical position with the US administration and the International Alliance, noting at the same time it is not in a position to maintain its military stockpile? How can they in future to trust Iraqi government and work to provide them with advanced military equipment, especially if we know that today’s Iraq is suffering militarily from the scarcity of sophisticated weapons, putting its security at risk?
This collusion is not the first of its kind, especially as we know that the wreckage of a US drone and dozens US “Hammers” and various US arms arrived to Iran and also if we know that all US weapons and weapons of the international coalition are sold in the markets of Iraq and part of these weapons go to the terrorist organization Daesh.
.
The disposal of Daesh is critical to Iraq’s recovery from its ordeal , but this is not sufficient and in order to be recovered completely , Iraq must be liberated as a state and society from its captors in Tehran, otherwise Iraq will remain ill .
The Iraqi Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies