Iranian intervention in Iraq (2014–present)

Iranian intervention in Iraq (2014–present)
	Part of the War against the Islamic State, the War in Iraq (2013–2017), and the Iraqi insurgency (2017–present)
	; Territorial control (as of January 23, 2024) Controlled by the Iraqi Government Controlled by ISIS Controlled by Peshmerga (Kurdistan Regional Government) and other Kurdish forces from the Kurdistan Region Controlled by the Turkish Armed Forces
Date	13 June 2014 – present; (11 years, 9 months and 1 day)
Location	Iraq
Status	Ongoing Iranian airstrikes on ISIL positions in Iraq; Armed clashes between Iran-backed militias and ISIL troops; Territorial defeat of ISIL and the end of the War in Iraq; Continued Iranian intervention in Iraq from 2017; Protests against the Iranian intervention in 2019;
Belligerents
Iran Hezbollah; Iraq; Iraqi Kurdistan; Popular Mobilization Forces:; Badr Organization; Muqawimun; Peace Brigades; Kata'ib al-Imam Ali; Islamic Resistance:; Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq; Kata'ib Hezbollah; Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada; Sunni tribal militias:; Jubur Confederation; Anbar Salvation Council; Christian militias:; Kataib Rouh Allah Issa Ibn Miriam	Islamic State Naqshbandi Army
Commanders and leaders
Ali Khamenei X; Masoud Pezeshkian (since 2024); Ebrahim Raisi † (until 2024); Hassan Rouhani (until 2021); Esmail Qaani; Qassem Soleimani X (until 2020); Hassan Nasrallah X (until 2024); Naim Qassem (since 2024); Abdul Latif Rashid; Muhammad Shayya al-Sudani; Mustafa al-Kadhimi (2020–2022); Adil Abdul-Mahdi (2018–2020); Nouri al-Maliki (2014–2015); Nechirvan Barzani; Qais al-Khazali; Hadi al-Amiri;	Abu al-Hasan al-Hashimi † (2022); Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi † ; (2019–2022); Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi † ; (2014–2019); Abu Ala al-Afri †; Abu Mohammad al-Adnani †; Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri; Salah Al-Mukhtar
Units involved
Iranian Armed Forces Quds Force; IRIAF; Special forces of Iran (since 2016); Iraqi Armed Forces Iraqi Army; Iraqi Air Force; Iraqi Federal Police; Kurdistan Regional Government Peshmerga;	Military of ISIL
Strength
Iran: 1,500 Basijis; 7 Sukhoi Su-25s; 47 F-4 Phantom IIs; Mohajer-4, Ababil; and Shahed 129 drones;	Around 100,000 fighters; (according to Kurdish Chief of Staff.); At least a few hundred tanks; 3 drones
Casualties and losses
Iran: 42 killed; 1 Mohajer-4 drone captured; Hezbollah: 1 commander killed;	Unknown

The Iranian intervention in Iraq has its roots in the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, when the infrastructure of the Iraqi armed forces, as well as intelligence, were disbanded in a process called "de-Ba'athification" which allowed militias with close ties to Tehran to join the newly reconstituted army.

The intervention reached its peak following the advance of the Islamic State into northern Iraq in mid-2014. Iran began to provide military aid to counter the militant advance. Iran provided technical advisers to the Iraqi government and weapons to the Kurdish Peshmerga. Several sources, among them Reuters, believe that since mid-June 2014, Iranian combat troops are in Iraq, which Iran denies.

The Iraqi Shia militias Kata'ib Hezbollah ("Hezbollah Brigades") and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq ("League of the Righteous"), funded and trained by Iran, fought alongside the Iraqi Army and Peshmerga in retaking territory from ISIL.