Mourners carry the coffin of an Iraqi demonstrator, who was killed during ongoing anti-government protests in Basra, Iraq May 11, 2020. Reuters
Mourners carry the coffin of an Iraqi demonstrator, who was killed during ongoing anti-government protests in Basra, Iraq May 11, 2020. Reuters
Mourners carry the coffin of an Iraqi demonstrator, who was killed during ongoing anti-government protests in Basra, Iraq May 11, 2020. Reuters
Mourners carry the coffin of an Iraqi demonstrator, who was killed during ongoing anti-government protests in Basra, Iraq May 11, 2020. Reuters

Thar Allah: Iran's forgotten terror proxy in Iraq


Robert Tollast
  • English
  • Arabic

It was a bold opening gambit from new Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi. On the night of May 10, protesters gathered outside the offices of a little known militia organisation in Basra, Thar Allah.

When they were met with live fire, it seemed a typically brutal response from Iraq’s numerous Iran-backed militias, whom many hold responsible for killing hundreds of protesters.

What happened next surprised observers: Thar Allah’s offices were raided by security forces, although their leader, Youssef Al Musawi, was not present at the scene of the raid. Mr Al Kadhimi later tweeted that the raid had been executed on his personal orders and that “those who spill Iraqi blood will not rest.”

The new PM has promised to re-establish rule of law. This means reining in powerful elements of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), some of which are linked to Iran.

For now, the new policy could have some momentum following developments in recent weeks. PMF groups linked to Iraq’s religious authorities (sometimes called the Shrine PMF) have voluntarily moved towards stronger government control.

Meanwhile, Iran-backed groups such as the notorious Kataib Hezbollah continue to violate Article 9 of Iraq’s Constitution, which outlaws political activity in the armed forces and mandates strong civilian control of the military.

So does the Thar Allah raid mark a new era? The most important point to consider is that Thar Allah is not within the PMF and nowhere near as strong as Kataib Hezbollah. They have no direct connection to the Iraqi government but share the outlook of the late Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, the Iran-backed militia leader killed in a US drone strike on January 3.

According to PMF expert Inna Rudolf, the new Iraqi premier’s order for the raid could be, “a signal meant to discourage outsourcing of resistance activities, which would allow to keep the PMF statist and neat while others play spearhead and convey certain messages.”

The raid could therefore represent a warning to other, smaller militias, giving the PM some leverage by creating uncertainty surrounding the fate of those who do not follow government orders.

A fringe movement 

Once a typical Iran-proxy, Thar Allah emerged from an array of exiled anti-Saddam Hussein opposition groups in Iran, such as the Badr Organisation, Iran’s oldest proxy in the country, and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI). Thar Allah ran with ISCI an election coalition in 2005, when ISCI was known as the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

After the US invasion in 2003, the group benefited from Iran’s early policy in Iraq of “betting on all the horses”. A 2005 leaked US army report mentions the group as being involved in the assassination of Sunnis in Basra, part of Iran’s ruthless strategy at the time to cement hegemonic control in Iraq’s south and wipe out any trace of their former foes, the Iraqi Baath party.

British soldiers reported in December 2003 finding a Thar Allah “torture chamber” in Basra.

Unsurprisingly, the group’s brutal tactics fanned the flames of civil war. This situation wasn’t helped by the fact that the British army initially thought the group was merely a local extremist organisation amid a much larger insurgency.

As late as 2007, Thar Allah received Iranian financial support, according to leaked State Department cables, alongside groups such as the now defunct Jaish Al Mahdi, followers of populist cleric Moqtada Al Sadr. By then, Basra was crumbling amid an array of rival militias, running mafioso style operations.

As the occupying British army lost control of southern Iraq, Thar Allah became embroiled in a vicious feud with the rival Shia Fadhila Party. Much was at stake, from controlling extortion rackets to oil smuggling.

In a desperate attempt to bring rival factions together, the Iraqi government and the British army agreed to have Al Musawi on a newly formed Basra Security Committee, despite his involvement in death squads.

Unsurprisingly, the effort quickly fell apart, but it is strangely absent from the official British inquiry into the Iraq war, the 6,000 page Chilcot Report. The report does however mention the failed Security Committee, described at the time by British Major General Sir Richard Shirreff as "no longer fit for purpose."

It is around this time that the group appears to have over-reached, probably because Iran had become wary of seeing its proxies clash, undoing Tehran’s project of political hegemony in Iraq.

As former PM Nouri Al Maliki, himself a Shiite, sent Iraqi forces to retake Basra from the Jaish Al Mahdi in 2008, Youssef Al Musawi fled to Iran where he reportedly remained until 2014, when the PMF formed to fight ISIS. Little is known about his time there.

As pro-Iran militias mobilised for war, Iranian support was not forthcoming for Thar Allah, which was absent from the major battles with ISIS.

This led Al Musawi to remould himself as a modern, clean cut politician, cultivating an image more like an accountant than a warlord. His Facebook page shows glossy campaign material but the posts are very much on message with Iranian propaganda, blaming the US for protests across Iraq.

Al Musawi also appears to have tried to rebuild political connections, praising former Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq leader Ammar Al Hakim on the founding of his breakaway Al Hikma party. But these efforts were to no avail.

Cut off from political support, Thar Allah had become an easy target for the new government. The question now remains, is this a new era for rule of law in Iraq, as Mr Al Kadhimi promised, or a symbolic move that may not deter groups such as Kataib Hezbollah? Only time will tell.

The Bio

Favourite Emirati dish: I have so many because it has a lot of herbs and vegetables. Harees  (oats with chicken) is one of them

Favourite place to go to: Dubai Mall because it has lots of sports shops.

Her motivation: My performance because I know that whatever I do, if I put the effort in, I’ll get results

During her free time: I like to drink coffee - a latte no sugar and no flavours. I do not like cold drinks

Pet peeve: That with every meal they give you a fries and Pepsi. That is so unhealthy

Advice to anyone who wants to be an ironman: Go for the goal. If you are consistent, you will get there. With the first one, it might not be what they want but they should start and just do it

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Match info:

Wolves 1
Boly (57')

Manchester City 1
Laporte (69')

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Ruwais timeline

1971 Abu Dhabi National Oil Company established

1980 Ruwais Housing Complex built, located 10 kilometres away from industrial plants

1982 120,000 bpd capacity Ruwais refinery complex officially inaugurated by the founder of the UAE Sheikh Zayed

1984 Second phase of Ruwais Housing Complex built. Today the 7,000-unit complex houses some 24,000 people.  

1985 The refinery is expanded with the commissioning of a 27,000 b/d hydro cracker complex

2009 Plans announced to build $1.2 billion fertilizer plant in Ruwais, producing urea

2010 Adnoc awards $10bn contracts for expansion of Ruwais refinery, to double capacity from 415,000 bpd

2014 Ruwais 261-outlet shopping mall opens

2014 Production starts at newly expanded Ruwais refinery, providing jet fuel and diesel and allowing the UAE to be self-sufficient for petrol supplies

2014 Etihad Rail begins transportation of sulphur from Shah and Habshan to Ruwais for export

2017 Aldar Academies to operate Adnoc’s schools including in Ruwais from September. Eight schools operate in total within the housing complex.

2018 Adnoc announces plans to invest $3.1 billion on upgrading its Ruwais refinery 

2018 NMC Healthcare selected to manage operations of Ruwais Hospital

2018 Adnoc announces new downstream strategy at event in Abu Dhabi on May 13

Source: The National

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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BMW M5 specs

Engine: 4.4-litre twin-turbo V-8 petrol enging with additional electric motor

Power: 727hp

Torque: 1,000Nm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh650,000

The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km

Price: Dh133,900

On sale: now 

Key developments

All times UTC 4

Results

5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Reem Baynounah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Mohamed Daggash (trainer)

5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Afham, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel

6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ghallieah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout

6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi

7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Adrie de Vries, Jean de Roualle

7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Haqeeqy, Dane O’Neill, John Hyde.

UK-EU trade at a glance

EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years

Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products

Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries

Smoother border management with use of e-gates

Cutting red tape on import and export of food

Scoreline

UAE 2-1 Saudi Arabia

UAE Mabkhout 21’, Khalil 59’

Saudi Al Abed (pen) 20’

Man of the match Ahmed Khalil (UAE)