Saudi-backed media launch propaganda against Iran after failure in Iraq elections

The pro-Wahhabi groups and media supported by Riyadh and its Arab allies have launched smear campaign against Iran after their affiliated groups and candidates failed in the recent parliamentary elections in Iraq. "After the significant victory of Shiite groups and parties in Iraq's parliamentary elections, those political streams which had received large sums of money from a number of Arab states, specially Saudi Arabia, to win the parliamentary seats, have now increased their attempts to stir chaos and conspiracy after losing the elections," security sources in Baghdad told FNA on Monday. "Hence, they have now started launching propaganda against Iran by alleging that Tehran has been meddling in Iraq's parliamentary elections, or that Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has paid a secret visit to Tehran to consult with Islamic Republic officials about the combination of the new government," they added. The sources said since the Saudis and certain Persian Gulf Arab littoral states, including Qatar and the UAE, have paid large sums to certain Wahhabi political groups in Iraq, they are now under the heavy pressure of the public opinion in their countries, who are asking about the failure of their plans in Iraq. The Wednesday's ballot in Iraq was conducted under an intensive security dragnet, and it passed largely without incident, despite weeks of rising violence as the poll approached. The election was hailed as a nation-building step more than two years after the last US forces left the country, lauding homegrown leaders as custodians of a new democracy. The incumbent leader, Nouri al-Maliki, who is standing for a third term as prime minister, remains a frontrunner to eventually form a coalition government.