The city of Mosul with its strategic location remains attractive to regional powers surrounding Iraq, which want to have a role during the post-Daesh phase, actually Iran proceeded to work on it , taken from the reconstruction file as an entry for it, although Tehran itself is accused of contributing to the destruction of the city. Indeed, according to media reports and human rights organizations, the war destroyed in Mosul 63 house of worship between a mosque and a church, mostly are historical ones, and 308 schools, and 12 institutes, and the University of Mosul and its colleges. And it also destroyed 11 thousand houses, and 4 power plants, and 6 water stations, and 212 laboratories and workshops, and 29 hotels, factories for spinning, weaving, sulfur, cement, iron, and the Postal and communication Services .The destruction includes also 9 hospitals and 76 health centers, and medical laboratory (medicine), according to the organizations and activists, and sources estimated that the proportion of destruction in Mosul by about 80%, while expected to issue official statistics in the coming days.
In the context of the reconstruction of the city of Mosul, it was announced by the Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade “Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh on the current July 16 saying,” Iran’s readiness to develop cooperation with Iraq, particularly the reconstruction of Mosul which was damaged by war. He said that Iran has good experience in the building of industrial districts and is ready to put these experiences at the disposal of the Iraqi side. He pointed out that Iraq is in need of the reconstruction and development, especially in the engineering and construction sectors, and Iran is ready to support Iraq in the establishment of infrastructure, particularly water, electricity networks, and the construction of marine pavements and public facilities, welfare and others. The question to be raised in this context what is the goal of Iran’s announcement of its intention to contribute to the reconstruction of Mosul?
Observers concerned of the Iraqi affairs believe that Iran is deeply concerned about the future of its influence in the region and they look with suspicion to the new US strategy in Iraq and Syria where the US military presence in the two countries has become one of the most prominent features, and they would like to fix its economic presence “reconstruction” and the military ” popular crowd “to disable any international attempts to undermine its influence in the region. So Iran has declared its readiness to participate in the efforts of the reconstruction of Mosul which are “just a bidding intended to appease the temper of the people of Mosul who are full of anger against Iran and the Iraqi political class loyal to it, the fact that this class is the ones who facilitated the entry of Daesh to the city in June 2014, which is the same as that led a war to recover it from the organization in a destructive manner that is the closest to revenge.”
They considered that any role for Iran in Mosul in the post Daesh will be rejected, and that the attempt to impose that role by the Baghdad government will be a factor to undermine efforts to restore security and stability of the city. Observers also believe that Iran wants to participate in the reconstruction of Iraq as an arrangement to a larger role for the future of its militias in Iraq and ensure their presence on the scene. They also stressed that Iran is looking for expanding its influence in Iraq through the control over the liberated provinces by its followers. It is worth noting that Mosul is the gateway to the expansion of Shiite influence in the region, and re shaping Iraqi demography to reduce the Sunni presence in northern Iraq.
The process of the reconstruction and revitalization of the economic cycle in the areas affected by the war is a key integral part of the military effort to establish security and stability, but Iraq exhausted economically and financially as a result of the decline in oil prices and rampant corruption and the weight of the war bill, will collide with a lack of the necessary possibilities for that, what makes eyes tend towards rich Arab countries to contribute effectively to the reconstruction of the country, which would be the best gate to straighten the erratic path taken by Iraq’s relationship with its surroundings of the Arab, where it will represent an opportunity to re-link the country with Arab countries after a period of great association with Iran through political class in power in Baghdad.
Economists assert that it will not be able to Iran, which in turn knows that it has economic and financial difficulties due to the sanctions imposed on it, to keep up with Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia to provide material support for Iraq if Riyadh tended to engage strongly in the reconstruction of what was destroyed in the war on Daash. It is worth to be noted that the post Daesh phase in Mosul is tough and worrying because of deep disagreements about the best way to manage Nineveh province in a way to avoid falling again into the bump of security collapse.
After the participation of the popular crowd at a military parade called “liberation and victory, in ” the center of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, along with military and security formations in the Ministries of Defense and Interior. Iran’s interests in the region seems, after resolving the battle of Mosul likely to be grown. Iran is seeking to draw a map of the next area where it is coming closer through the participation of the Revolutionary Guard advisers with forces of «popular crowd» to complete its expansion towards the international borders between Iraq and Syria. As its move toward the city of Mosul comes as part of the strategy of integrated roles on both regional and international levels , that at the regional level it aims to strengthen the tools of its external action through its fighting elements on the Iraqi arena, and at the international level by strengthening its negotiating position towards the major powers, not what is just about its nuclear program , but also with regard to its influence and weight in the Middle East region in general.
The Iraqi Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies