![The Iraqi Army take part in the operation to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists in Iraq on March 12, 2017 [Hemn Baban/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/20170312_2_22363883_19798762.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Arab tribes in Iraq’s Nineveh province have warned of Iran’s growing influence west of Mosul under the pretext of fighting Daesh and supporting the Popular Mobilisation Units, the Shia militia.
The Council of Arab Tribes in the province said in a media statement that it rejects the Iranian expansion hidden within the Popular Mobilisation ranks “to seize areas west of the province of Nineveh.” Such expansion, they said, is a violation of the agreement and understanding reached between Baghdad and Erbil and the international coalition before the start of the battle in Mosul.
The statement added that the expansion only serves the Iranian plan to open a road from Mosul to the Syrian border in cooperation with the Bashar Al-Assad regime in Damascus and the PKK. The Council concluded with a warning that Iran’s moves will ignite sectarianism, and called on the international coalition to “intervene immediately to resolve this matter.”
Read: Iraq Shia protest ‘preferential treatment’ for Iranians