The name of Hezbollah power broker Muhammad Kawtharani had gained attention even before the assassination of Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
Since Soleimani’s assassination, Kawtharani had gained traction in Iraqi politics.
Washington offered a $10 million reward for information on Kawtharani, whom it says has taken over part of the role of Soleimani.
Washington charged last week that Kawtharani had “taken over some of the political coordination of Iran-aligned paramilitary groups” formerly organized by Soleimani.
When a US drone strike in January killed Soleimani and others in a small convoy outside Baghdad airport, the little-known but powerful official from Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement was initially rumored to have died alongside him.
It was quickly confirmed that Kawtharani, who has long spearheaded Hezbollah’s Iraq policy, was not among those killed in the attack.
“In that role, he was like a copy of Soleimani,” a senior Iraqi official who met with Kawtharani several times told AFP.
Washington considers that Kawtharani “facilitates the activities of groups working outside the control of the Iraqi government to violently suppress demonstrators” or “attack foreign diplomatic missions”, and participates in “training, financing, and providing political-logistical support to Iraqi Shiite rebel groups.”
After the US administration’s decision to sanction Kawtharani and offer a reward for information about him, there was news in several local media outlets about the presence of Kawtharani in Baghdad, noting that he was conducting negotiations on the new government in the Green Zone, but it could not be confirmed.
Born in Iraq in the late 1950s, Kawtharani studied in the holy shrine city of Najaf and is married to an Iraqi woman with whom he has four children.
“Kawtharani was appointed to head Hezbollah’s Iraq file in 2003 and has reported directly to its secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah,” said a source close to Hezbollah’s senior ranks.
Washington had first sanctioned Kawtharani as a “terrorist” in 2013 for providing training, funding, political, and logistical support to Iraqi Shiite insurgent groups.
Iraqi political expert Hisham al-Hashemi said Kawtharani wore multiple hats.
“He’s the conductor in the Shiite loyalist orchestra,” said Hashemi, referring to the collection of Iraqi Shiite parties that see Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as their main reference.
