Iraq

Iran closed its border crossings with Iraq after deadly clashes erupted in Baghdad over a decision by a prominent Shiite cleric to step back from politics, ...

Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr told his followers to leave their protests in central Baghdad on Tuesday and apologised to the Iraqi people after nearly two ...

"This is not a revolutionary (anymore) because it has lost its peaceful character," Sadr said in a televised address. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gather on a road blocked with burning tires during a demonstration in Iraq's southern city of Basra, Aug. 29, ...

Protesters loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who resigned Monday, pulled down the cement barriers outside the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Dubai’s long-haul carrier Emirates stopped flights to Baghdad on Tuesday over the ongoing unrest in Iraq. The state-run KUNA news agency also encouraged those hoping to travel to Iraq to delay their plans over the eruption of violent street clashes between rival Shiite groups in the country.

30 people have been killed in the Iraqi capital Baghdad after fighting between supporters and rivals of Muqtada al-Sadr.

On Tuesday afternoon al-Sadr ordered his supporters to leave the Green Zone, including their protest sites, and apologised for the violence. Many of his supporters immediately started to leave. They also confronted supporters of their rivals, the Iran-backed Coordination Framework alliance, leading to fighting between the two groups.

Death toll rises after unrest following announcement of Muqtada al-Sadr's resignation from politics.

“There is a lot of gunfire in and near the green zone,” said Saud Mansour, a resident of the west of the city. If they do, they’re making a mistake that everyone will pay for.” Protesters loyal to Sadr had earlier pulled down barriers outside the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. “But if this fight continues to develop, it becomes something bigger than they can control. However, a counterterrorism force was witnessed preventing the entry of a unit from the Popular Mobilisation Unit (PMU), an ancillary force raised during the fight against Islamic State that has retained a significant presence since that war ended. They’re heading to the parliament area.”

Al-Sadr refused to negotiate with his Iran-backed Shiite rivals, and his withdrawal Monday catapulted Iraq into political uncertainty. Iran closed its borders ...

The decision came as millions prepared to visit Iraq for an annual pilgrimage to Shiite sites. It’s an explosive rivalry in a country where many remain way of the Iranian government’s influence even though trade and ties remain strong between people. In addition to the dozens killed, over 400 were wounded, two Iraqi medical officials said Tuesday. Many of his followers quickly heeded his call, dismantling their tents and leaving the Green Zone. The chaos began when al-Sadr announced he would resign from politics, and his supporters stormed the Green Zone, once the stronghold of the U.S. Iraq’s government has been deadlocked since al-Sadr’s party won the largest share of seats in October parliamentary elections but not enough to secure a majority government.

Fighting between rival Iraqi forces raged for a second day Tuesday as the death toll from violence sparked by Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's resignation ...

Dubai's long-haul carrier Emirates stopped flights to Baghdad on Tuesday over the ongoing unrest in Iraq. Kuwait meanwhile has urged its citizens in neighboring Iraq to leave the country. To further his political interests, Sadr has wrapped his rhetoric in a nationalist and reform agenda that resonates powerfully among his broad grassroots base of supporters. Overnight, shelling targeted the high-security Green Zone that houses government buildings and diplomatic missions amid angry protests after Sadr's surprise announcement. Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called on his followers to stop protesting Tuesday after violent clashes between rival Shiite Muslim groups continued for a second day following his announcement that he was withdrawing from politics. Romanowski (@USAmbIraq)

Muqtada al-Sadr apologised to Iraqis for the violence of the past two days in a speech.

Supporters of a prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric fired rocket-propelled grenades into Iraq's Green Zone as machine gun fire crackled overhead on Tuesday, ...

Dubai’s long-haul carrier Emirates stopped flights to Baghdad on Tuesday over the ongoing unrest in Iraq. “There are firefights around the embassy in Baghdad. Iranian state television cited “unrests” and “curfew” in Iraqi cities for the reason for the border closures. Iraq’s military announced a nationwide curfew, and the caretaker premier suspended Cabinet sessions in response to the violence. The state-run KUNA news agency also encouraged those hoping to travel to Iraq to delay their plans over the eruption of violent street clashes between rival Shiite groups in the country. To avenge the killing of unarmed loyalists, Mr al-Sadr’s militia Saraya Salam clashed with Iraqi security forces in the Green Zone using an array of weapons, including mortars and rocket-propelled grenades, two security officials said.

The violent clashes between Iraqi government forces and supporters of influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr erupted this week after Sadr announced his ...

[According to](https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/iraq-oil-exports-unaffected-by-political-turmoil-sources-2022-08-30/) Reuters, there has been no disruption in oil exports from Iraq as of Tuesday, but Sadr’s supporters have surrounded a refinery in Basrah, which produces 210,000 barrels per day. A series of what appears to be unrelated rocket attacks on a gas field in northern Iraq’s Kurdish region forced U.S. In a repeat of scenes witnessed in Sri Lanka Embassy in Baghdad—which is located inside the Green Zone—said: “The United States is concerned about escalating tensions and urges all parties to remain peaceful and refrain from acts that could lead to a cycle of violence...Now is the time for dialogue to resolve differences, not through confrontation.” White House officials echoed this but indicated there wasn’t an immediate need to evacuate embassy staff from Baghdad. [produced](https://ina.iq/eng/21280-opec-increases-oil-supplies-to-seven-countries-including-iraq.html) 4.496 million barrels per day and a major drop in that number could send global crude oil prices soaring further. Sadr and his allies have refused to engage with other Shia groups in the parliament backed by Iran, delaying the formation of a new government in the country. Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister—an ally of Sadr—has decried the violence and also imposed a nationwide curfew. In July, Iraq [ influential player](https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/whats-driving-power-struggle-iraq-2022-07-31/) in Iraq’s national politics and it backs a bloc of political parties led by former prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki—a rival of Sadr. Aside from political parties, Iran also exerts influence over several Iraqi paramilitaries who are part of the country’s security forces but not directly controlled by the government in Baghdad, the New York Times [reports](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/29/world/middleeast/iraq-sadr-politics.html). Sadr himself has demanded an end to all violence across the country and said he will go on a hunger strike until this happens. The political situation in Iraq has been thrown into turmoil since last year’s general elections after a Sadr-backed faction won the most seats in Iraq’s parliament.

The protesters, fiercely loyal supporters of the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, had been enraged by his pledge to leave Iraqi politics—although he ...

[28 people](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/29/world/asia/china-arrests-beating-women.html) and investigating 15 officials for corruption in relation to the incident. That pitched Iraq into uncertainty and left it in the hands of a caretaker government that can’t [approve budgets](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/14/iraq-crisis-ayatollah-parliament-00051587) or legislation. Some experts say Sadr’s announcement was a dangerous, desperate [ploy](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/29/world/middleeast/iraq-sadr-politics.html) to maintain his power and galvanize his base. But Monday’s clashes—which killed at least 15 people, injured over [100 people](https://www.wsj.com/articles/iraqi-cleric-moqtada-al-sadr-quits-politics-setting-off-protests-11661790479), and pushed the military to impose a nationwide curfew—suggest a worrying new turn in the crisis. It’s unclear what caused their fight, which took place on the Paris-Geneva route in June. “The country I left is a country that people miss. It did not go as he may have intended: They were swiftly [replaced](https://apnews.com/article/middle-east-religion-iran-elections-legislature-edb3dbb31b0e523ad60a0a060493516b), effectively eliminating his parliamentary sway for the first time in nearly two decades. Main roads into the city have been blocked since 2015, aid groups said, a closure that has had profound humanitarian implications. “Sadr’s willingness to worsen Iraq’s political turmoil, delay Iraq’s government formation, and escalate protests further—threatening an all-out war with rival Shiite groups—should surely serve as a warning that he is capable of catapulting the country into something even worse,” Talabany wrote. Brazil’s presidential race. would repair this situation by going to him, begging him to change his mind and bring his MPs back,” Kadhim said. Although Sadr was the elections’

At least 30 people have been killed and hundreds injured in clashes relating to the political influence of Iran.

At the same time, it has established a foothold in the Iraqi parliament and in various arms of government. How far this confrontation will lead will be determined by how staunch Sadr is in his attempts to break the system. However, this time he has put all he has on the line, vowing to break a system that he says has failed the country. Iran and Iraq are majority Shia countries and since 2003, Iran has had a growing presence in the country. But a standoff since has failed to produce a coalition that could form a government in the 329-seat parliament. Widely known to be volatile and unpredictable, he has proven a difficult figure to gauge or deal with.

After days of gunfights with government forces in the streets of Iraq's capital, forces loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr began to withdraw after he ...

Our staff are now working at the German embassy elsewhere in the city,” Mr. In a sign of the fear that the unrest would spread, Iran closed its borders to Iraq earlier Tuesday, though even before Mr. Kuwait, which shares a 254-kilometer- (158-mile-) long border with Iraq, called on its citizens to leave the neighboring country. The decision came as millions prepared to visit Iraq for an annual pilgrimage to Shiite sites. Sadr’s initial announcement that he would leave politics implicitly gave his supporters the freedom to act as they see fit. It’s an explosive rivalry in a country where many are wary of the Iranian government’s influence even though trade and ties between people remain strong. Many dismissed the move as a ploy to gain greater leverage, and his supporters stormed the Green Zone, once the stronghold of the U.S. In addition to the dozens killed, over 400 were wounded, two Iraqi medical officials said Tuesday. The 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam, a Sunni, reversed the political order. They eventually breached the gates of the government palace, rushing into its lavish salons and marbled halls. Following two days of deadly unrest that sparked fears instability might spread throughout the country and even the region, cleric Moqtada al-Sadr told his supporters to leave the government quarter where they had rallied. That led to months of political infighting between Mr.