Powerful Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered loyalists to return to their homes after a day of clashes that left at least 30 people dead, wounded hundreds and sparked fears of a wider conflict within the country’s Shia population.
Sadr called for the Iraqi army to retake control of Baghdad’s green zone, which had been the scene of the fiercest fighting between Sadrist members and pro-Iranian militias.
Iran closed its border and urged its citizens to leave Iraq as fighters roamed the streets of the capital, amid efforts by pro-Iranian factions and those loyal to Iraqi cleric Sadr to ease tensions that had spilled over in response to Sadr’s decision to exit politics.
The Iranian move came as millions of Iranians were preparing to visit Iraq for an annual pilgrimage to Shia sites. Kuwait, meanwhile, urged its citizens in Iraq to leave the country and encouraged those hoping to travel to Iraq to delay their plans.
Credit: theguardian.com
