The requests come amid Iran's rising influence in Iraq and the Middle East in general, both politically and in terms of material support for U.S. enemies, including weapons smuggling, The Wall Street Journal said.
What makes the request more urgent is the planned reduction in U.S. troop presence in Iraq by year's end, a development that many fear will lead to even greater influence by Iran, whose population is mostly Shi'ite, like Iraq.
The current request is awaiting action by the White House. If approved, covert action authorization would likely take the form of a classified presidential "finding," but is likely to be more limited in scope than the presidential order authorizing the CIA to begin covert operations against al Qaeda in 2001.
The paper said officials declined to discuss details about the proposed operations, but they are likely to include stepped up efforts to interdict arms smuggling at the Iran-Iraq border, among others.
The U.S. has conducted covert operations against Iran in Iraq in the past. Those have included increased U.S. military efforts to interdict Iranian agents and arms inside Iraq in recent months.
The paper reported that Washington has become more concerned about Iranian meddling in Syria and Bahrain recently as well, and as such has pushed the Defense Department establishment to develop plans to counter Tehran's rising influence.
In Iraq, U.S. officials say they have evidence Iran is providing Shi'ite militias there with more powerful weapons and better training. U.S. forces have interdicted weapons and uncovered caches in the past that were marked clearly as being manufactured in Iran.-Newsroom America
