Iran's Grande Schemes
By Douglas Farah
It appears that Iranian special Quds Forces are directly aiding Sunni _jihadist_ forces in Iraq, along with the Shi'ite militias, as reported here. But it is highly-calibrated assistance, not to the old regime's Baathist groups, but to individuals directly tied to al Qaeda.
This is in keeping with Iran's long-term strategic interest in seeing the U.S. forces come under the maximum strain, while maintaining leverage with a group that will likely be active in Iraq for years to come. It is not a new strategy for Iran. They are still harboring senior al Qaeda operatives for several years, and allowed safe passage to at least one wife and several children of Osama bin Laden as they fled Afghanistan in 2001.
The Quds Force, in particular, has protected al Qaeda operatives, as well as working extensively with Hezbollah and, at times Hamas (another Sunni group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood). My full blog is here.