BAGHDAD—An influential Shiite cleric announced Monday that he would resign from Iraqi politics, prompting hundreds of his angry followers to storm the government palace, sparking clashes with security forces. At least 15 protesters were killed.
Protesters loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pulled down the cement barriers outside the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Many rushed into the lavish salons and marbled halls of the palace, a key meeting place for Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries.
Iraq’s military announced a nationwide curfew, and the caretaker premier suspended Cabinet sessions in response to the violence. Medical officials said dozens of protesters were wounded by gunfire and tear gas and physical altercations with riot police.
As night fell, Saraya Salam, a militia aligned with al-Sadr clashed with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) security group, an umbrella group composed of state-sanctioned paramilitary groups, the most powerful of which are aligned with al-Sadr’s rivals in the Iran-backed political camp.
At least one soldier from the special forces division, which is responsible for security in the Green Zone, was killed. Many others, including a civilian woman, were wounded, two security officials said. Several mortar rounds were heard.
The crackle of machine gun fire echoed throughout central Baghdad.
Security officials said mortars and rocket-propelled grenades were used in the clashes, a culmination of intractable political impasse between the rival camps.
Now, the political tussle between Iran-backed Shiites and Iraqi nationalist Shiites, who are pushing back against Iran’s interference in their national politics, may see political tensions escalate.
Al-Sadr has wrapped his rhetoric with a nationalist and reform agenda that resonates powerfully among his broad grassroots base of supporters who hail from Iraq’s poorest sectors of society and have historically been shut out from the political system.
Many were first followers of his father, a revered figure in Shiite Islam. They are calling for the dissolution of parliament and early elections without the participation of Iran-backed Shiite groups, which they see as responsible for the status quo of government corruption.
Al-Sadr commands a militia and maintains a great degree of influence within Iraq’s state institutions through the appointments of key civil servant positions. His Iran-backed rivals also have militia groups.
During Monday’s clashes, Saraya Salam, a militia aligned with al-Sadr gathered in the capital’s Tahrir Square to “protect” protesters, one of its commanders said.
A senior medical official confirmed at least 15 protesters were killed by gunfire from government forces.
Iraq’s caretaker premier said he would open an investigation into the shootings and said the use of live ammunition against protesters was forbidden.
Protests also broke out in the Shiite-majority southern provinces, with al-Sadr’s supporters burning tires and blocking roads in the oil-rich province of Basra and hundreds demonstrating outside the governorate building in Missan.
The Iranian regime considers al-Sadr a threat to so-called intra-Shiite harmony.
In July, Al-Sadr’s supporters broke into the parliament to deter his rivals in the Coordination Framework, an alliance of mostly Iran-aligned Shiite parties, from forming a government. Hundreds have been staging a sit-in outside the building for over four weeks. Al-Sadr’s bloc has also resigned from parliament. The Framework is led by al-Sadr’s chief opponent, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
This is not the first time al-Sadr has announced his retirement from politics—and many dismissed Monday’s move as another tactic to gain greater leverage against his rivals amid a worsening stalemate.
Iraq’s military swiftly called on the cleric’s supporters to withdraw immediately from the heavily fortified government zone and to practice self-restraint “to prevent clashes or the spilling of Iraqi blood,” according to a statement.
“The security forces affirm their responsibility to protect government institutions, international missions, public and private properties,” the statement said.
Iraq’s caretaker Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi also demanded that al-Sadr call on his followers to withdraw from government institutions.
The U.N. mission in Iraq said Monday’s protests were an “extremely dangerous escalation” and called on demonstrators to vacate all government buildings to allow the caretaker government to continue running the state.
It urged all to remain peaceful and “refrain from acts that could lead to an unstoppable chain of events.”
“The very survival of the state is at stake,” the statement said.
Al-Sadr announced his withdrawal from politics on Twitter, and ordered the closure of his party offices. Religious and cultural institutions will remain open, it said.
The announcement coincided with the retirement of Shiite spiritual leader Ayatollah Kadhim al-Haeri, who counts many of al-Sadr’s supporters as followers.
In a surprise announcement Sunday, al-Haeri said he would be stepping down as a religious authority for health reasons and called on his followers to throw their allegiance behind Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rather than the Shiite spiritual center in Iraq’s holy city of Najaf.
In his tweet, al-Sadr said al-Haeri’s stepping down “was not out of his own volition,” implying political interference from the Iranian regime.
