Iraqi army members ride in a military vehicle in Bartila, Iraq December 7, 2016. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani
BAGHDAD/ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - In the early days of the assault on Islamic State in Mosul, Iran successfully pressed Iraq to change its battle plan and seal off the city, an intervention which has since shaped the tortuous course of the conflict, sources briefed on the plan say.
The original campaign strategy called for Iraqi forces to close in around Mosul in a horseshoe formation, blocking three fronts but leaving open the fourth - to the west of the city leading to Islamic State territory in neighbouring Syria.
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