article_snippet: Although the campaign is Iraqi-led, help from outside is also going to play an important role.
article_snippet: Though the United States has not conducted any airstrikes in the campaign yet, this may well change as this battle develops.
article_snippet: Iran, in stark contrast to the United States, provided Iraq with immediate and much-needed military assistance when the security crisis escalated last June.
article_snippet: The Iranians are heavily invested in the campaign and are also not going to let the Iraqis lose.
article_snippet: Unlike in Syria, the Americans and Iranians both share a common enemy and a common friend in Iraq, but due to wider political considerations neither the United States nor Tehran will admit that there is any form of tacit cooperation in Iraq.
article_snippet: However, the campaign is just another front where such cooperation is likely to be already happening behind the scenes.
article_snippet: Baghdad will make use of the United States intelligence that will almost certainly be shared with the Iranian officers who are advising the Iraqi army.