JD: Talk to me about Iran. Iran of course has Shiite fighters. They’re aligned together there in Iraq and Iraq has become somewhat of a threat to Israel.
KT: That is a new development Jimmy where the Shiite fighters, and there are over 100,000 of them in Iraq today. They were created as organized militia groups with the help of Iran but with the direct involvement and agreement of the Iraqi government in Bagdad. And now they are operating as an Iranian backed militia force. These Iranian backed militia groups have ballistic missiles that are pointed at Israel. The Israeli’s have repeatedly stated publicly that they should get rid of those missiles. The Israeli’s have hit them. There have been air strikes by Israeli air forces jets against these targets in Iraq. This has created some furor in Iraq and threats by the militia groups themselves who are run by members of Iraqi Parliament. I mean it’s really quite extraordinary to see the existent of the Iranian influence inside the Iraqi governing structures.
So there’s an increasing conflict building up there and a increasing tension between Israel itself and these Iranian backed Iraqi and militias. By the way Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not denied that. He has warned Iran and he stated that Israel will defend itself where ever needed. And when asked whether that included Iraq he said, “I did not put any limits on that statement of wherever”.
