Travel between Iran and Iraq would be limited, according to the deputy interior minister of Iran, following Monday’s deadly unrest in Iraq against Iranian IRGC influence that claimed at least 15 lives.
After prominent Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr declared his decision to leave politics, protests and fights broke out in the streets of Baghdad.
Al-Sadr declared he was leaving politics because other Shia organizations who are paid and loyal to Iran would not work with him to change the political landscape in Iraq. He has consistently denounced Iranian meddling in Iraqi politics and refuses to work with IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) Shia militias and groups that are the cause of political unrest.
After Al-Sadr-supporting protestors stormed the presidential palace, authorities said that dozens more individuals were hurt. Overnight, a curfew was established.
Tehran has long sought to establish hegemony in Iraq through the terrorist-designated Iranian IRGC by funding, arming, and training militias loyal to its cause who undermine Iraq’s internal politics to push forward its own agenda.
Majid Mirahmadi, the deputy for security in the Iranian Ministry of Interior, and the head of the nation’s Arbaeen headquarters announced on Monday: “Due to the unrest in Iraq and curfew regulations, the Iranian embassy in Iraq has issued a notice to prohibit the movement of people within pilgrimage cities.” Arbaeen is a Shia holy day that falls in the middle of September.
Officials at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini airport have declared that several airlines’ departing flights to Baghdad beginning Monday night would be cancelled starting that evening.