The directive detailed German intervention in support of Arab nationalists who seized the government in Iraq and were being confronted by the British Army (10th Indian Infantry Division).
According to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, the "vigorous instructions" provided by Hitler were "belated" and developed at a time when "all chance of useful Axis intervention had passed.
Had he lived, von Blomberg was to integrate the Luftwaffe component, Fliegerführer Irak, with Iraqi armed forces in operations against the British.
After his death and after the mission was a failure, the small group of German Military Intelligence (Abwehr) officers who followed him discussed the destruction of all oil facilities in Iraq.
Dr. Fritz Grobba represented the German Foreign Office in Iraq for Sonderstab F. As such, he was responsible for the direction of mission-related propaganda in addition to his diplomatic duties.