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BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq is coming under pressure as the U.S. and Israel increase efforts to contain Iran and its influence in the region.
Pro-Iranian militias across Lebanon, Syria and Iraq are being pounded with economic sanctions and precision strikes hitting their bases and infrastructure, putting the governments that host them in the crosshairs of an escalating confrontation.
Nowhere is that being felt more than in Iraq, where Shiite forces linked to Iran pose a growing challenge to government authority.
Sites belonging to Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq have been hit by a spate of airstrikes blamed on Israel.
The mounting pressure has brought divisions within Iraq's pro-Iranian factions into the open, threatening to upend a fragile government coalition and a rare reprieve from the violence that has plagued the country for years.
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