The invasion of Iraq—launched on March 20, 2003, by US-led coalition forces under the promise of “bringing freedom and democracy to its people”—came to an end at the close of this September with the complete withdrawal of American troops from the country. The military withdrawal of the US from Iraq also signified the end of the “Greater Persian Empire / Greater Iran” fantasy that Iran had once envisioned realizing through close cooperation with Washington.

Following the September 11 attacks, the 2001 Afghanistan and 2003 Iraq invasions conducted by the US and Coalition Forces were declared by then-US President George W. Bush as a “Crusade” to be carried out patiently, and Sunni Muslims in general were branded as terrorists that needed to be fought and eliminated. The Islamic Republic of Iran viewed this frenzy as a once-in-a-century opportunity. It used anti-terrorism cooperation with the US as a cover for Shiite expansionism across the suppressed Sunni geography, turning the conjuncture into an opportunity to establish a Greater Iranian State.

Within the framework of this expectation, the Islamic Republic of Iran became the greatest helper of the US in both the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani, in a Friday sermon delivered in Tehran in 2002, admitted cooperation with America by stating: “The Americans should know that if it were not for the Iranian army, they would not have been able to topple the Taliban regime… Iranian forces killed the Taliban and facilitated its downfall. If our forces had not fought against the Taliban, the Americans would have drowned in the Afghan marsh.” Similarly, former Iranian President Ahmadinejad vented his frustration at the US in a television interview, saying: “We helped America in Afghanistan, and then we helped in Iraq. Despite this, Bush arrogantly accuses us of being an axis of evil.”

Former Iranian Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi also confirmed the aforementioned admissions of cooperation by Presidents Rafsanjani and Ahmadinejad during a speech on January 15, 2004, stating: “If it were not for Iran’s support, Kabul and Baghdad would not have fallen so easily.”

The US Handed Over the Occupied Iraq to Iran

Toppling the Saddam Hussein regime on April 9, 2003, the US established a federal state based on a quota system with the support of Shiites and Kurds. In this model, where Sunni Arabs—who constitute 30% of the population—were de facto excluded from governance, Shiite-majority administrations coming into power with US approval brought Iraq under Tehran’s control through sectarian affiliation. State administration, particularly the military, intelligence, and judiciary, fell into the hands of pro-Iranian factions. Shiite military militias established parallel to the official army were made part of the Axis of Resistance affiliated with the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 2016 onward, these militias transformed into power centers financed by the Iraqi state budget and serving Iran.

Millions of Iraqi civilians lost their lives—most of whom were Sunnis—both at the hands of coalition troops during the invasion and in the Shiite-Sunni civil war that erupted afterward. The US, which set out for a Crusade, effectively handed the country over from 2005 onward to Tehran—chasing a Greater Persian Empire—via politicians loyal to Velayat-e Faqih.

A 1,300-page report published by the US Army in 2019 evaluating US activities in Iraq between 2003 and 2018 clearly confirmed this outcome: “An emboldened and expansionist Iran appears to be the only victor (in Iraq) as this project completed in 2018.” The report’s emphasis was striking: “Iran and Syria provided space and support for Sunni and Shiite militants, while the US never developed a comprehensive strategy to stop it.”

Shiism Was a Tool for the “Greater Iran” Goal

Looking at the period since the revolution, it becomes evident that Shiism was used as a tool for the “Greater Iran” objective. In the imagination of the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Persian Empire during the era of Darius the Great in the 5th century BCE was etched as an ultimate target (Kızılelma). The region referred to as the “Greater Iran” geography by Iranian politicians encompasses present-day Iran, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, parts of Pakistan, eastern Turkey, the Persian Gulf, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria.

[Geography of the Greater Persian Empire]

The “Greater Iran” objective of the Persians was presented to non-Persian Shiites as the “Greater Shiite State.” Through sectarian affiliation, other communities were detached from their own kin and turned into servants of Tehran.

One of the most concrete expressions of this came from Aras Habib Karim, former Member of Parliament and Secretary-General of the Iraqi National Congress. Aras Habib, a Feyli Shiite Kurd tribal member and former intelligence officer, spoke on Samir Jawad’s program on Dijlah TV in September 2025. He stated that establishing a Greater Shiite State was a goal to which he dedicated his life, that he did not care who governed the country for this objective, that a project was made under Ahmed Chalabi’s leadership to reshape the Middle East map, and that with the help of the Americans and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the goal of establishing a Greater Shiite State across the geography from Afghanistan to Palestine had actually been realized, but people failed to understand it. He further accused........

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