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FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct . 7, 2014 file photo, Iraqi Shiite militiamen aim their weapons during clashes with militants from the Islamic State group, in Jurf al-Sakhar, about 43 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Baghdad, Iraq. The fight against the Islamic State has deepened the bond between Iraqs Shiite-led government and Iran, to the extent that Iran has easily eclipsed the United States in the eyes of many Iraqis as the main ally in defeating the extremists.(AP Photo, File)(The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Sunday, Aug. 31, 2014, file photo, Iraqi security forces and Shiite militiamen chant anti-terrorism slogans after breaking the siege on 15,000 Shiite Turkmens stranded in the farming community town of Amirli, following U.S. airstrikes against Sunni Islamic State group positions, 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq. The fight against the Islamic State has deepened the bond between Iraqs Shiite-led government and Iran, to the extent that Iran has easily eclipsed the United States in the eyes of many Iraqis as the main ally in defeating the extremists. (AP Photo, File)(The Associated Press)

FILE - In this file photo taken on Friday, Aug. 2, 2013, Iraqi Hezbollah scouts parade with a portrait of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as they mark Al-Quds Day or Jerusalem Day in Baghdad, Iraq. The fight against the Islamic State has deepened the bond between Iraqs Shiite-led government and Iran, to the extent that Iran has easily eclipsed the United States in the eyes of many Iraqis as the main ally in defeating the extremists. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)(The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Oct . 7, 2014 file photo, Iraqi security forces hold a flag of the Islamic State group they captured during an operation outside Amirli, some 105 miles (170 kilometers) north of Baghdad, Iraq. The fight against the Islamic State has deepened the bond between Iraqs Shiite-led government and Iran, to the extent that Iran has easily eclipsed the United States in the eyes of many Iraqis as the main ally in defeating the extremists. (AP Photo, File)(The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013 file photo released by an official website of the office of the Iranian supreme leader, then chief of the Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Ghasem Soleimani, attends a meeting of the commanders of the Revolutionary Guard with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran. The fight against the Islamic State has deepened the bond between Iraqs Shiite-led government and Iran, to the extent that Iran has easily eclipsed the United States in the eyes of many Iraqis as the main ally in defeating the extremists. (AP Photo/Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader, File)(The Associated Press)

BAGHDAD In the eyes of most Iraqis, their country's best ally in the war against the Islamic State group is not the United States and the coalition air campaign against the militants. It's Iran, which is credited with stopping the extremists' march on Baghdad.

Shiite, non-Arab Iran has effectively taken charge of Iraq's defense against the Sunni radical group, meeting the Iraqi government's need for immediate help on the ground.

Two to three Iranian military aircraft a day land at Baghdad airport, bringing in weapons and ammunition. Iran's most potent military force and best known general the Revolutionary Guard's elite Quds Force and its commander Gen. Ghasem Soleimani are organizing Iraqi forces and have become the de facto leaders of Iraqi Shiite militias that are the backbone of the fight. Iran carried out airstrikes to help push militants from an Iraqi province on its border.

The result is that Tehran's influence in Iraq, already high since U.S. forces left at the end of 2011, has grown to an unprecedented level.

Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition have helped push back the militants in parts of the north, including breaking a siege of a Shiite town. But many Iraqis believe the Americans mainly want to help the Kurds. Airstrikes helped Kurdish forces stop extremists threatening the capital of the Kurdish autonomous zone, Irbil, in August. But even that feat is accorded by many Iraqis to a timely airlift of Iranian arms to the Kurds.

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Iran's influence in Iraq solidifies as it eclipses US in helping fight Islamic State militants