Influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his supporters to stop violent riots in Baghdad on Tuesday after 24 hours that left at least 30 dead and hundreds wounded in the Iraqi capital’s “Green Zone.”
Sadr’s supporters began rioting, attempting to storm government buildings and hurling grenades, after the cleric announced on Monday his permanent retirement from politics.
The riot was an expansion of a “sit-in” that resulted in mobs of hundreds of men occupying the Iraqi Parliament on multiple occasions in the past month, protesting Iranian influence in Iraqi politics.
Prior to Sadr’s speech, “supporters of al-Sadr could be seen on live television firing both machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades into the heavily-fortified area through a section of pulled-down concrete walls,” the Associated Press reported. Minutes after the speech on Tuesday, Sadrists reportedly began departing their occupied positions in the capital.
Muqtada al-Sadr is one of Iraq’s most influential political figures, often clashing with the current, post-Saddam Hussein government because of his opposition to Iranian influence in Iraqi politics. Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, had widely oppressed Shiite Muslims. In the aftermath of his overthrow, Iranian-backed political groups have largely cemented their control of Baghdad, vying for power against Sadr’s political bloc, which advocates Iraqi nationalism and opposes both an Iranian and American presence in America.
Sadr has retired several times in the past similar citing disgust with Iraqi politics, but has repeatedly insisted this week that this retirement is “final.”
Sadrists have repeatedly occupied the Iraqi Parliament and the Green Zone over the past year in protest of the growing influence of Iran-backed politicians following the collapse of the Islamic State. Sadr’s political bloc, which at one time included Iraq’s Communist Party, won October’s legislative elections, resulting in the government essentially refusing to seat a new parliament and causing the current chaos. In June, Sadr ordered his majority of lawmakers to simply resign from Iraqi politics in disgust, making it impossible to form a legislature.
During the war against ISIS, which occupied some of Iraq’s largest cities, a group of Iran-backed militias and terrorist groups known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) became a legal arm of the Iraqi armed forces, formalizing Iran’s influence in Iraqi politics and infuriating the Sadrists.
A supporter of Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr carries away items as their encampment in Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone is dismantled on August 30, 2022. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)
The tensions erupted into the largest wave of mob violence yet on Monday when a frustrated Sadr declared that the Iraqi government’s inability to form a legislature in conjunction with elected officials from his political bloc had forced him to make the decision to resign from politics indefinitely.
Sadr did not elaborate on what his retirement would look like or how the Sadrist movement would progress without his participation, as he does not hold public office or formally lead any political party.
A day later, al-Sadr delivered a televised address apologizing to the nation and condemning his own supporters, telling them they had one hour to vacate the Green Zone and stop rioting.
“This is not a revolution,” al-Sadr proclaimed.
“It saddens me a lot what happens in Iraq; I apologize to the Iraqi people, the only ones affected by the events,” the cleric said, according to a translation by Iranian state outlet PressTV. “We had hoped that there would be peaceful protests, not weapons.”
“I am now criticizing the Sadrist movement’s revolution as I criticized the October revolution when it was marred by violence,” he continued, “Change your minds and withdraw completely, even from the sit-in.”
Sadr also reiterated that his retirement from politics was “final,” again not providing any significant context regarding how he saw his political movement evolving without him.
Several prominent Iraqi political leaders, including Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, issued public statements thanking and praising Sadr for his remarks. Kadhimi applauded Sadr for showing “the highest levels of patriotism” by calling for an end to violence. The Iraqi government also announced an end to the curfew imposed on Monday in response to the riots.
Members of Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigade), the military wing affiliated with Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, withdraw from Baghdad’s Green Zone on August 30, 2022. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)
The Kurdish news outlet Rudaw, which is headquartered in Kurdish Iraq, reported on Tuesday that Sadr’s supporters largely appeared to be heeding his orders, leaving the Green Zone. The Associated Press also relayed that Sadrists appeared to be vacating the area within “minutes” of Sadr delivering his order.
Rudaw also observed that members of Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam militia had organized in the Green Zone on Tuesday, presumably to protect Sadrists from violence from members of Iran-backed militias or supporters of the current government. Rudaw described the situation in the Green Zone as one of “heavy gunfire” between Sadrist nationalists and Iran-backed groups throughout the night of Monday into Tuesday.
Australia’s ABC News reported on Tuesday that “at least” 30 people had died since the riots began on Monday and local officials had documented 400 people injured. The Associated Press, citing an anonymous Iraqi government official, predicted that the casualty toll would grow much larger as emergency personnel continued to identify victims.