Da'wa Tandhim al-Iraq [DTI]

A split emerged between the Da'wa Party and Da'wa Tandhim. The Da'wa Tandhim, easily the most mysterious significant Iraqi political party, is very pro-Iranian, pro-Vilayat-e-faqih and was launched by Iran in 2002. They voted with ISCI on several occasions including on the law on federalism.

Confusingly, the Da'wa leadership split during the 1980s on the issue of the Khomeinist notion of the Vilayat-e-faqih and established two different branches of the party: Da'wa Tandhim and Da'wa Party. This Da'wa Tandhim, which did not either adhere to Khomeini's theory nor accept Iranian meddling in the party's affairs, is unrelated to the later Da'wa Tandhim. Confusingly, the two Da'wa Tandhim have essentially opposite views of Iran.

Iran has a robust program to exert influence in Iraq to limit American power projection capability in the Middle East, ensure the Iraqi government does not pose a threat to Iran, and build a reliable platform for projecting influence further abroad. Iran has two primary modes of influence. First, and most importantly, it projects political influence by leveraging close historical relationships with several Shi'a organizations in Iraq: the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), the Badr organization, and the Dawah political party. Second, Iran uses the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Qods Force (QF) to provide aid in the form of paramilitary training, weapons, and equipment to various Iraqi militant groups, including Moqtada al-Sadr's Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) and the Special Group Criminals (SGCs). By late 2009 there was apparently yet another Da'wa Tandhim al-Iraq? The main DTI branch was still registered with State of Law, but the long-time public face for DTI (and presumed Iranian agent) Abd al-Karim al-'Anizi had formed a new party called Da'wa Tandhim al-Dakhil that is registered with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA).