Baghdad Signage

One of my Iraqi coworkers regularly laments the situation in Baghdad during our conversations. Recently, she's been complaining less about the Americans and focused more on the Iranians. Strangely, she believes that the Americans are partnering with the Iranians to exploit Iraq. She reaches this conclusion from the premise that the Americans are omnipotent as they are the most powerful country in the world. Consequently, since there is Iranian influence in Iraq, the Americans must be encouraging it.

She emailed me this picture of a sign in her neighborhood, Adhamiya. The part in red reads "Entry Forbidden to Police..." and the text that follows (I needed alot of help with this part) continues with adjectives describing the police "....the followers of Solagh, [the interior minister] the Iranian fire-worshippers ['majoos,' an epithet related to Zoroastrianism], to the grounds of
Adhamiya."














I asked some Iraqis why the sign was posted. Was it because Adhamiya has its own militia and doesn't want challenges to its authority and control? Or is it that the police, because of their connections to Iran, are not trusted? The response I received was "Where did you get that picture from?" I think its more the latter, as even my Shiite coworkers agree that the police have been infiltrated by Iranian intelligence.