Iranian, Iraqi and Western officials have said Tehran has in recent months moved short-range ballistic missiles to Shi'ite groups in Iraq and is developing the ability to make more rockets there to defend its interests and strike its opponents.
"The logic is for Iran to have an alternative plan if it is attacked, the number of missiles is not big, just dozens, but it can be increased if needed," a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
The missiles involved are the Zelzal, Fatah 110 and Al-Fakar rockets, with a range of 200 to 700 kilometers. This would put Riyadh and Tel Aviv at a distance that would allow them to be hit if they were deployed in southern or western Iraq. Commander of the Quds Force Qasim Soleimani supervises the program.
The source said that the number of missiles does not exceed dozens, and the purpose of the transfer is to send a message to the United States and Israel after the raids on Iranian forces in Syria, "It seems that Iran is turning Iraq into a missile base forward."
Iranian sources and a source in the Iraqi intelligence said that a decision was made 18 months ago, using Shiite factions to produce missiles in Iraq, but activity has increased in recent months, including the arrival of rocket launchers.
"We have such bases in many places, including Iraq," said a senior commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. "Our attack on America attacked our friends, their interests and their allies in the region."
On the other hand, the Western and Iraqi sources said that the missile development plants in Iraq are located in Zaafaraniya east of Baghdad and Jafar al-Sakhr north of Karbala, while an Iranian source said that there is also a plant in Iraqi Kurdistan.
A US official confirmed that Tehran had over the past months fired missiles into groups in Iraq, but could not confirm whether there was any capability to launch those rockets from their current positions, but an Iraqi intelligence official confirmed that the Shiite factions are able to launch.
A second Iraqi intelligence official said Baghdad was aware of the flow of Iranian missiles into Shiite groups under the pretext of confronting the Islamic state, but the shipments continued to arrive even after the organization was defeated.
He added that the Iraqi government will not be able to prevent these militias from firing Iranian rockets, expressing the certainty that Iran will use one day to send a strong message to its enemies in the region and to the United States, that they are able to use the territory of Iraq in their favor.