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Iran, Iraq seek to send a message with joint naval exercises
In conjunction with the military maneuvers of the Iranian-backed Shiite Popular Mobilization Units along the Iraqi border with Saudi Arabia on Jan. 4, former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki attacked Saudi Arabia from Tehran on Jan. 3, accusing Riyadh of being a source of terrorism and of backing terror groups in the region.
This followed another maneuver by Iranian-Iraqi maritime forces at the Shatt al-Arab, a waterway formed by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that flows into the Persian Gulf.
Maliki's statements and the military maneuver both carry a clear message to Saudi Arabia that Iraq is a full ally of Iran against any Saudi threat.
On Dec. 16, Iranian naval forces conducted a military exercise with a nominal participation of the Iraqi naval forces at the Shatt al-Arab. Iranian naval commanders said the military drills were aimed at enhancing joint maritime patrols, searching suspected boats and preventing smuggling, infiltration and piracy in the waters of the Shatt al-Arab.
The Iraqi naval forces participated in the exercise with six Defender boats. This joint exercise is the first between Tehran and Baghdad since the restoration of bilateral relations after 2003.
Jabbar al-Saidi, the head of the security committee in the Basra provincial council, described the drills as mere joint tactical exercises to enhance Iraq’s maritime capabilities and expertise. He told Al-Monitor that the exercise had opened the door to joint cooperation between Iraqi and Iranian coastal guards focused on controlling activities of smugglers and traffickers. He said that the drills will continue in light of the ongoing cooperation and meetings with Iran to promote joint naval security work.
The Shatt al-Arab is seen as the backbone of the Iraqi economy, serving as a channel for ships heading to the port of Basra from the Persian Gulf. It is also a major source of irrigation for palm groves. The Shatt al-Arab is 190 kilometers (118 miles) long and 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) wide in some areas.
Iran has three ports along the Shatt al-Arab: the ports of Khorramshahr, which has seen significant expansion, Abadan and Khosro-Abad. In recent years, Iran has also started building three more ports, in addition to new offshore platforms.
According to Alaa al-Saffar, a political analyst and professor at the University of Mosul, the Shatt al-Arab waters are completely safe, without any piracy activities, but the Iranian-Iraqi maritime exercises were held to send a message to the Gulf states.
He told Al-Monitor that Tehran wanted to relay a message to the Gulf countries that its presence in Iraq is permanent and stable by virtue of the strategic relations between Baghdad and Tehran.
Saffar said that the Iranian influence in Basra province continues to increase, and that the maritime drills were carried out under direct supervision by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and with Iranian media coverage only. This speaks volume of Iran’s full freedom to act in Iraqi territory.
He added that the Iraqi officials are turning a blind eye to the political goals behind these maneuvers, considering them in terms of security reasons only.
For his part, Murtada al-Shahmani, the chairman of the ports committee in Basra, told Al-Monitor, “The maneuvers are tactical exercises to inaugurate the new Iraqi command between the Basra council and the leadership of the border zone." He said that the exercise went well, further improving Iraqi and Iranian naval capabilities, in terms of boats, equipment and skills.
Shahmani said that the maneuvers are part of the information exchange between Iraq’s neighboring countries and to benefit from the intelligence system, he claimed it was necessary that Iraq's coast be protected against piracy, drug smuggling and fishermen coming through Iran.
He added that the Basra provincial council called upon the commanders of the maritime border forces to carry on with the exercises in order to support and develop the Iraqi naval forces.
The Shatt al-Arab has been suffering erosion on the Iraqi side, resulting in the loss of 100 acres of land each year, due to neglect, large numbers of sunken ships and sediment at the bottom of the Karun River. This has caused more sedimentary rocks to appear on the Iranian side, which raises concerns about Iran’s control over the oil-rich areas on the border that are currently owned by Iraq.
Iran benefits from the Algiers Accord signed in 1975 between Iraq and Iran. The agreement, which was signed between Saddam Hussein — then Iraq's vice president — and the shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, provided for determining the border between Iraq and Iran at the lowest point of the Shatt al-Arab, known as the thalweg line.
The local government in Basra did not address the neglect involving the loss of Iraqi territory. It is, however, seeking to establish a neutral zone of 400 acres, part of it in Iran's Khuzestan province, part of it in Basra.
Basra Gov. Majid al-Nasrawi said in a statement Dec. 4 that the establishment of this zone requires the passage of a bill by parliament.
Iranian Border Guard Commander Brig. Gen. Qassem Rezayee did not hide the political objectives behind the naval maneuvers at the Shatt al-Arab when he said Dec. 11, “These maneuvers confirm that the two countries will not allow any third party to intervene in the security affairs of the region, to sow the seeds of discord and division between our countries.”
This was a clear message to the Gulf states in regard to the Iranian influence at the Shatt al-Arab.
As long as the Iraqi government neglects protecting its sovereignty at the Shatt al-Arab, Iran will have the right to venture inside Iraqi borders, while the government continues to shy away from taking a firmer position.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/01/iran-iraq-saudi-maritime-exercise-shatt-arab.html
