“I will say it for the first time: the Islamic Republic of Iran, this time did not exert any pressure on any Shiite party,” read the statement from Sadr, adding “what is being rumored about our resignation being due to an Iranian threat, is a lie and untrue.”
Sadr asked all the parliament members of his bloc to submit their resignations to Iraq’s Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi earlier this month, in an effort to put an end to the political impasse that has plagued Iraq since October’s elections. The resignations were approved by Halbousi soon after.
The Shiite cleric clarified that he does not deny Iranian interference and pressure on other parts of Iraq, stating that there have been political violations from what he referred to as “arms of Iran,” attempting to coerce Iraq’s judiciary to serving their benefits.
Sadr urged the parliamentary blocs not to be intimidated by the “illegal” pressures, asking them to take a “brave stance for reformation and saving the homeland," ahead of Thursday's parliamentary session, which is set to vote on the replacements of the Sadrist MPs.
“These problems regarding Iranian interference whether political or otherwise, we have started talking with the Iranian side differently,” Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said earlier this month, adding that “Tehran has started to hear a different language from Baghdad, one that did not exist before.”
Several major militias operating in the country are backed by Tehran and often attack US and western bases in the country.
Former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in an interview in March said that the process of negotiation around the formation of Iraq’s next government has been crippled by foreign interference from regional and international players, claiming that the country’s parties would have reached an agreement by now if it were not for external interference.
Iraq continues to be shrouded in political instability with the country yet to form its next government a staggering eight months following the October elections.
The Sadrist Movement emerged from October’s elections as the bloc with the highest number of seats in the parliament. The bloc was seeking to form a national majority government with its allies in the Save the Homeland Alliance - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), and the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance - but faced strong opposition from the Iran-backed Shiite parliamentary faction Coordination Framework, who insisted on forming a more traditional government based on political consensus.
