The Iranian View of the Iraqi Parliamentary Elections

In the run-up to Iraq’s parliamentary elections, the Islamic Republic’s media outlets provided limited coverage of an event that will have significant security and economic implications for Iran. Most of the coverage focused on denying Iran’s interference in Iraqi politics while deflecting attention to US and Saudi interference in Iraq's internal affairs. This focus likely was part of Tehran's calculated effort to prevent exacerbating an Iraqi nationalist backlash against candidates receiving Iranian support.

Iranian strategy to deflect and deny interference in Iraqi politics