Iran pushing Al Sadr into broad alliance
Powerful Iranian general calls for strong government ‘far away from Saudi pressure’
ANALYSIS
Asurprise alliance between the winners of Iraq’s election appears to reflect manoeuvring by neighbouring Iran to form a broad Shiite coalition as it scrambles to protect its influence.
When nationalist cleric Moqtada Al Sadr’s bloc scooped the most seats at May’s poll it was seen as a blow for Tehran.
Al Sadr had railed against both the influence of Iran and the United States, even drawing closer to Tehran’s arch-foe Saudi Arabia as he insisted Iraqis should run their own affairs.
So an announcement on Tuesday that he was linking up with the pro-Iranian former fighters under Hadi Al Ameri who finished second at the election was a shock to many.
Iran decision
Insiders said the unlikely tieup to try to form a new government came after Iran decided that if it couldn’t beat Al Sadr, then it might be better to seek to join him.
In the immediate aftermath of the vote, Tehran had launched a political offensive to try to unite its allies and block ■ Al Sadr’s path to power.
But Iran changed tack on realising pushing the popular cleric aside was too problematic, and instead sought to include Al Sadr in a Shiite alliance broad enough to neutralise his influence.
At a meeting Sunday with Al Ameri and former premier Nouri Al Maliki at Iran’s embassy in Baghdad, top emissaries from Tehran apparently endorsed a link-up with Al Sadr as the lesser of two evils.
“Dismissing Al Sadr could allow him to assemble other groups and increase the criticism levelled at Iran’s role in Iraq,” said a source close to participants of the meeting.
A source that spoke to Al Sharq Al Awsat said that outgoing premier Haider Al Abadi and former premier Al Maliki will likely join the new government.
The gathering involved influential Iranian general Qassem Sulaimani and Mojtaba Khamenei, son of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
General’s call
Sulaimani used the opportunity to call for “a strong government, far from American and Saudi pressure and from foreign interference”, the same source told AFP.
If the broad Shiite alliance gets off the ground Iran will be “the first to support the next government in Iraq,” Sulaimani was quote as saying.
While the alliance between Al Ameri and Al Sadr might appear unlikely, analysts said both have a track record as practical politicians.
Neutralising the elite
Ahead of the elections they pitched themselves as outsiders looking to sweep clean the tarnished elite that has dominated Iraq since the ouster of Saddam Hussain.
As the coalition government materialises, three candidates have emerged for the post of prime minister.
They are Al Abadi, his interior minister Qasim Al Araji who is close to Al Ameri, and Mohammad Al Sudani, a former rights minister under Al Maliki.