Over recent weeks and months, there has been debate over whether—or, more accurately, the degree to which—Islamic law should be enshrined in the new Iraqi constitution to be drafted by next month. Most Shiite leaders in Iraq want the country to become an Islamic state, not so different from the Iranian model. Iran wants this most of all.
Rather than waiting for the constitutional authority to enforce Sharia—or Islamic—law, however, the Shiite leadership has already succeeded in establishing it in parts of the country—largely through intimidation and militia enforcement, and, it seems, at the behest of Iran.
