Some 5,000 Iranian backed Iraqi Shia rebels have moved from southern Iran to the north and crossed the border into Kurdish controlled northern Iraq. The government is apparently making deals with the Kurds regarding how Iraq will be run after Saddam is gone. This movement have been going on over the last two years. These rebels are supported by the religious conservatives in Iran. The conservatives see the overthrow of Saddam and the establishment of a democratic government in Iraq as a threat to Islamic conservative control in Iran. Thus is it thought that the conservatives will attempt to get an Islamic conservative movement going in Iraq. But the Iraqis are not keen on supporting an Islamic republic because the one in Iran is seen as a clear cut failure.