CIA director: Iran general 'destabilizing' efforts in Iraq
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Having the leader of Iran's elite Quds Force direct Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State group is complicating the US mission against terrorism and contributing to destabilization in Iraq, the director of the Central Intelligence Agency said Sunday.
The comments by CIA Director John Brennan on "Fox News Sunday" are among the strongest yet voiced by American officials about the involvement of shadowy Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in the war against the extremist group. Brennan described Soleimani as being "very aggressive and active" as he advises Shiite militias battling the extremists, most recently in the ongoing offensive targeting Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown. Brennan said he "wouldn't consider Iran an ally right now inside Iraq." The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey, testifying at a congressional hearing this past week, said that the US worries that Shiite militiamen eventually might turn against Sunni and Kurdish Iraqis, further destabilizing the country.
