Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shi’ite cleric in Iraq, urged parliamentarians and the government of Iraq on Friday to shut the American embassy in Baghdad in protest of Washington’s “unfettered support” for Israel.
“If the government and parliament do not abide by this demand, we will go for further actions, which we will later announce,” read the statement.
Millions of Iraqis embrace the populist leader, who has demonstrated in the past that he can organize rallies of hundreds of thousands of supporters—primarily Shi’ite Muslims from the working class—to apply political pressure.
Unlike other Shi’ite leaders with close links to Tehran, Sadr has resisted Iranian dominance in Iraq. In addition, he has challenged American policy and demanded that the country withdraw its last remaining soldiers from Iraq.
In June, in response to the burning of a Koran in Sweden, his supporters attacked and set fire to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad. The people who support Sadr called the rally.
He ordered his supporters to attack the tightly guarded Green Zone in Baghdad, home to embassies and government buildings, and take over parliament last year.
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