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Emran Feroz is an Afghan-Austrian journalist currently based in Stuttgart, Germany. He is regularly writing from Afghanistan, often focusing on the Middle East, Central Asia, drone warfare, refugee policies and human rights. Emran is writing in both German and English. His work has already appeared in international media outlets such as Al Jazeera, The Intercept, Alternet, The Atlantic or the New York Times and in various German and Austrian news papers and magazines.
Considering the rhetoric of recent years, one might think that Iran is Washington's main enemy. However, this does not change the reality that, in fact, Iran has become one of the main profiteers of US foreign policy in the Middle East.
Whether in Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria, the winner's name is Iran. Especially in Afghanistan and Iraq, anti-Tehran regimes were toppled by US interventions.
In Iraq, the developments of these policies are noticeable. The fight against ISIS in the region made Iranian involvement even deeper.
As the article states:
"The increasing Iranian influence over Baghdad throughout the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) concluded with Tehran's proxies dominating the country's "disputed areas" and Kurdistan proper. It is fair to claim that the future of Iraq is now in the hands of Iran, rather than any other regional and/or international actor."
It's interesting – and often not really understandable – to see Washington's power game in the region.
While US-backed Saudi Arabia is directly targeting Iran, the US has chosen to abandon the Kurds (who are more than disappointed now) and left Iraq's political space wide open to Tehran, again.