--- title: Iran Looms Over ISIS Fight as Baghdad-Tehran Alliance Moves to Tikrit description: A Senate hearing on fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria quickly became a discussion about Iran canonical: https://time.com/3741427/isis-iran-iraq-tikrit/ author: Mark Thompson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-11T21:37:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:42.532Z article:section: Politics og:title: Iran Looms Over Discussion of ISIS in Iraq og:description: Iran was mentioned almost as much as Iraq in a hearing today. og:url: https://time.com/3741427/isis-iran-iraq-tikrit/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcade56709fa481df/6987834355a8593ca9a86425/iraq-isis-senate-foreign-relations.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3463 og:image:height: 1948 og:image:alt: Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey (L), U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter (C) and Secretary of State John Kerry testify at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "The President's Request for Authorization to Use Force Agains og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Iran Looms Over Discussion of ISIS in Iraq twitter:description: Iran was mentioned almost as much as Iraq in a hearing today. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcade56709fa481df/6987834355a8593ca9a86425/iraq-isis-senate-foreign-relations.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Iran Looms Over ISIS Fight as Baghdad-Tehran Alliance Moves Into Tikrit > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: The Families ISIS Fighters Leave Behind [Watch (HLS stream): The Families ISIS Fighters Leave Behind](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3wE4zvGL.m3u8) (5:29)  _Published 2015-02-26. How the rivalry between ISIS & Al-Nusra is tearing families apart_ by [Mark Thompson](https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Mar 11, 2015 9:37 PM UTC  Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey (L), U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter (C) and Secretary of State John Kerry testify at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "The President's Request for Authorization to Use Force Against ISIS: Military and Diplomatic Efforts" on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 11, 2015. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Martin Dempsey (L), U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter (C) and Secretary of State John Kerry testify at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on "The President's Request for Authorization to Use Force Against ISIS: Military and Diplomatic Efforts" on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 11, 2015.Kevin Lamargue—Reuters by [Mark Thompson](https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Mar 11, 2015 9:37 PM UTC The future of Iraq and Syria was supposed to be the focus of Wednesday’s hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. No surprise there, given the fact that the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria occupies about a third of each nation. But the subplot — like a shark’s fin endlessly circling Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, Joint Chiefs chairman General Martin Dempsey and Secretary of State John Kerry — was Iran. Iran came up at the hearing 67 times, nearly as much as Iraq (79) and more than Syria (44). The hearing carried echoes of similar ones more than a decade ago that portrayed Iraq as a threat worth going to war to stop. “I think they have the same suspicion about us that we have of them,” Dempsey said of his Iranian counterparts. Republican lawmakers pointedly asked the trio if the Obama Administration was averting its eyes from Iran’s growing presence in Iraq in hopes of greasing the skids for a nuclear deal with Tehran. “I believe that much of our strategy with regards to ISIS is being driven by a desire not to upset Iran so that they don’t walk away from the negotiating table on the deal that you’re working on,” Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said. “Absolutely not in the least,” Kerry countered. But as the hearing droned on, Iraq was [succeeding](//www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/03/11/witnesses-iraqi-forces-enter-islamic-state-held-tikrit/70142696/) in pushing ISIS fighters out of Tikrit after a 10-day battle. While Baghdad did it with no American help, it had substantial aid from neighboring Iran. Dempsey detailed just how extensive Iran’s help was in the battle for Tikrit: 20,000 of the 24,000 troops fighting ISIS in and around the city, or more than 80%, were “Iranian trained and somewhat Iranian equipped” Shi‘ite militia. Tikrit carries a key lesson: Iraq can beat ISIS without U.S. assistance, so long as it has Iran by its side. “If it’s Iran that is at the tip of the spear here, if they’re the ones sponsoring the victories … they’re going to have influence in Iraq,” Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin said. “That’s going to be very, very difficult, very tenuous, very dangerous for the regional peace.” The chairman of the Joint Chiefs listed six things that concern him about Iran’s growing role in Iraq and the region: --- > “” --- Dempsey said Iran’s role in the fight for Tikrit is “positive,” but warned of what might happen next. “We are all concerned about what happens after the drums stop beating and \[ISIS\] is defeated,” he said. “We’re very concerned about that.” Later Wednesday, Carter noted that “there are actually several important battles going on, in some of which the Iranians play no role at all.” Back at the hearing, Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the committee chairman, wondered aloud if the Iranian-backed militia might attack the 3,000 American troops currently in Iraq. “We have no indications that they intend to turn on us,” Dempsey said. That’s hardly reassuring, given Iran’s track record in Iraq. After the 2003 U.S. invasion, Pentagon officials say Tehran [provided](http://www.nationaljournal.com/record-number-of-u-s-troops-killed-by-iranian-weapons-20110728) Shi‘ite militias inside Iraq with a sophisticated form of IEDs. These so-called explosively formed penetrators killed hundreds of U.S. troops. _Read next:_ [_Why Iran Believes ISIS is a U.S. Creation_](http://time.com/3720081/isis-iran-us-creation/?iid=time%5Freadnext) [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3741427/isis-iran-iraq-tikrit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3741427/isis-iran-iraq-tikrit/"},"headline":"Iran Looms Over ISIS Fight as Baghdad-Tehran Alliance Moves Into Tikrit","datePublished":"2015-03-11T21:37:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:42.532Z","description":"Lawmakers press U.S. high command over Iran's growing influence","url":"https://time.com/3741427/isis-iran-iraq-tikrit/","keywords":["Military","Iran","Syria","Iraq","ISIS","National Security"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcade56709fa481df/6987834355a8593ca9a86425/iraq-isis-senate-foreign-relations.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Thompson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcade56709fa481df/6987834355a8593ca9a86425/iraq-isis-senate-foreign-relations.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. 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