Saudi Journalists: The Mosul Campaign Is An Iranian Offensive Against Sunni Arabs | MEMRI

In recent days, a joint force comprising Iraqi government troops, Kurdish Peshmerga forces and elements of the international anti-terror coalition has been waging a massive campaign to push the Islamic State (ISIS) out of the Iraqi city of Mosul. Alongside praise for this offensive and for its stated goal of expelling ISIS from the city, there has also been concern among Iraqi and Saudi Sunnis regarding the implications of the offensive for the residents of Mosul, most of whom are Sunnis, and regarding the true intentions of some of the elements involved in the campaign. These concerns were expressed in many articles recently published in the Saudi press, which claimed inter alia that the Mosul offensive is merely a cover for an Iranian plan to expel Sunnis from the Mosul area and change its demographic makeup in order to strengthen Iran’s influence there.