Iran shifts strategy: Diplomacy replaces military focus in Iraq

Shafaq News – Tehran / Baghdad

Iran is shifting its approach in Iraq ahead of the November 2025 parliamentary elections, focusing on diplomacy and institutional influence rather than direct military action, Daily Sabah reported on Tuesday.

Visits by Ali Larijani, secretary general of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), to Iraq and Lebanon, and by Ammar al-Hakim, head of the National Wisdom Movement (Al-Hikma), to Tehran, reflect Tehran’s efforts to maintain its influence and manage its “proxy networks” amid regional tensions.

“Larijani's visits demonstrate that the SNSC has begun to take on a more central role in security and foreign policy matters,” the report noted, emphasizing that his engagements focused on reinforcing security agreements and addressing the presence of anti-Iranian armed groups in northern Iraq.

In turn, Al-Hakim’s visit to Tehran highlighted a “mutually beneficial approach” across security, justice, economic, and cultural cooperation. The meetings point toward structured partnerships between Iraq and Iran, underscoring a shared interest in stability, particularly as the elections approach.

Security cooperation, however, remains a central element of Tehran’s strategy, with both sides prioritizing the management of proxy forces and reducing their visibility amid US and Israeli pressures. “The visits by both leaders aim to secure Iran's strategy of controlling its proxy forces, preventing their radicalization and lowering their profile against US-Israeli attacks,” Daily Sabah added.

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