New York Times citied an Iraqi intelligence official as saying that the most dangerous threat, however, was posed by the Mahdi and Badr militias who, he claimed, were working with Iran to undermine the Awakening movement.

He said, “Two weeks ago, we captured one Iraqi and two Iranians meeting in a house in Baghdad,” he said. “They are hitting the Sunni councils… When we capture these Shiite militiamen, they tell us they have orders from Iran.”