ISIS Attacks Iraq's Largest Oil Refinery; Will Iraq Crisis Be Proxy War Between Saudi Arabia, Iran?
MANN: You're watching CNN Connect the World. I'm Jonathan Mann standing in for Becky Anderson. Welcome back. As Sunni militants moved toward Baghdad, Iran's president says he will not hesitate to defend Iraq's Shia holy places. Hassan Rouhani says many Iranians are ready to cross the border to protect the holy sites, and in his words, put the terrorists in their place. Millions of pilgrims visit shrines in Karbala, Najaf and other cities each year. President Rouhani's comments, another reminder of his alliance with Iraq and its Shiite prime minister Nuri al-Maliki. But the Sunni insurgency also has the potential to disrupt Saudi Arabia's alliance and interests in the region. Mohammed Jamjoom joins us now from Beirut. And Mohammed, I wonder if we could start with Iran. What is its role now? What could it become?</s>MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jonathan, that's the question that everybody in this region is asking. Obviously, Iran has very close ties with the government of Nuri al-Maliki. Speculation over the course of the past week has been what exactly will Iran do? Many have wondered if Iran would possibly send in troops to help protect the Iraqi government. With comments that you're hearing today from President Rouhani, it's clear they say they're going to do whatever they can to protect Shiite holy sites in that country, but what exactly does that mean? And the fact that these comments were made now, that's adding to the speculation that was already out there. And because this region is so volatile and because sectarian divisions have deepened ever since the Syrian conflict first started, that's causing a lot of concern in Sunni powerhouse countries like Saudi Arabia who are now also making a lot of noise as to what should happen in Iraq, what the outside community should do and how the situation, or how anybody should try to approach the situation there and calm it down, Jonathan.</s>MANN: Well, could we end up seeing some kind of remote control conflict between Iran on one side and Saudi Arabia on the other? And let me ask you more pointedly, are we already seeing that? Is there Sunni money already helping ISIS in its campaign to take over Iraq?</s>JAMJOOM: It looks like this proxy war has already begun. And that's not really a surprise, considering how arch rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia both have a very vested interest as far as what happens in Iraq. Today, we heard from the Saudi foreign minister in remarks that he gave at a gathering of Islamic countries in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He warned that what's happening in Iraq could become a full-blown civil war. Also, we've heard from Saudi officials these past few days who have warned outside powers from intervening in the Iraqi conflict. Clearly, that is a veiled -- that's a veiled remark that's directed towards the Iranian powers. The Saudis don't want to see the Iranians get involved in the Iraqi conflict. But the problem is that the Saudis are also very concerned about the rise of ISIS and how much -- how much stronger ISIS has become in the last couple of months. We saw in -- about two-and-a-half months ago, the Saudis officially declared ISIS a terrorist organization. And I've heard from Saudi officials who have told me in the last 24 hours that in fact ISIS is actively trying to recruit members from inside Saudi Arabia to launch attacks against the Saudi royal family. So the Saudis really believe they have a big problem on their hand just with ISIS alone in Iraq. But they're also very concerned about Iran entering that conflict. Saudi Arabia shares a border with Iraq. And they're very worried that the stability, not just of a region, but of Saudi Arabia itself, will be affected by what's going on in Iraq --Jonathan.</s>MANN: So let me ask you a question -- maybe I'm spinning the coin in the wrong direction -- but to look at the other side of it, Tehran, Riyadh, Washington all would like to see ISIS contained and/or defeated. Who gains from ISIS's advance? Who gains if Iraq ends up coming apart?</s>JAMJOOM: It seems right now only ISIS gains. Clearly, this region loses if ISIS continues on its march towards Baghdad, if they continue to gain strength. The question is, how is ISIS been able to become as strong as it has become? Well, they've had years of now fighting in Syria, getting stronger in Syria, then coming into Iraq. The question is, what does this do to this region? And there really is a lot of concern right now this could become a conflagration for the region at a time when already sectarian tensions are as high as they've been in this very volatile region in quite a long time because of the Syrian conflict, which has spilled over so many borders into other countries. What is what's going on in Iraq going to do? And it doesn't seem like the rise of ISIS or how popular they are becoming amongst recruits, how much money they've gotten, how strong they've gotten, is going to do anything to help this region, except for the rise of ISIS and their terror campaign -- Jonathan.</s>MANN: So, how does ISIS get contained? The Iranians say they might do it. Is there anyone there who would like to see Washington contribute to keeping ISIS from taking still more control of still more Iraq?</s>JAMJOOM: What's interesting right now in this region is there is a belief amongst a lot of countries that Washington should be doing more, but there's also a lot of fear that if Washington gets involved that that's going to -- that's going to fuel anti-Americanism in this region and that's going to cause a lot of anger in this region as well. Nobody really knows what to do. And nobody really has a good idea as to how best contain ISIS . This really took a lot of the countries in this region by surprise, although when you look back and you see how ISIS has been able to thrive these past couple of years and become as strong as it has because of what it was doing in Syria, perhaps there shouldn't be that much surprise. The fact of the matter is, it seemed clear by analysts looking at the situation that ISIS was gaining in strength, that they were getting funding. You know, just a few weeks ago, ISIS was putting out horrific propaganda videos which were showing killing sprees that they were conducting across Iraq. So, when you see something like that and then you look at what's gone on since then, it really doesn't seem to be as much of a surprise as maybe some people purport that it is. And yet nobody in this region really seems to have a great idea as to how to best contain this group that so many countries deem as such a threat right now -- Jon.</s>MANN: Mohammed Jamjoom, live from Beirut, thanks very much. Much more analysis still to come on Iraq, including a closer look at the record of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. His critics say his policies are a big part of the problem. But up next, we go to Uganda for our African startup. Stay with us. You're watching Connect the World.