Lawmakers see Iran's rise as key concern in fight against IS
Republicans focus on Tehran in first hearing since Tikrit offensive.
Iran has emerged as a main issue for Congress as it debates whether to give President Barack Obama the powers he wants to battle the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq.
In their first hearing on the issue since last week's assault on Tikrit by Tehran-trained Shiite militias, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 11 repeatedly asked US officials whether defeating IS would only empower Iran. Most senators had no ready solutions to offer, but several suggested a beefed-up US presence was the only way to keep Iran in check.
"In many ways, every single thing the United States is doing right now in Iraq to deal with [IS] … is really inuring to the benefit of Iran," Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., said in the opening to the hearing. "In other words, we're making Iraq a better place for Iran."
He pointed to Iranian influence on the Iraqi government and parliament, Shiite militias' central role in the battle to retake Tikrit and the emergence of Iran's Quds Force Cmdr. Qasem Soleimani as a popular hero in the fight against IS.
