Since last week, an Iraqi journalist working in the US named Ali Fadhil has posted a number of stolen audio files that have been linked to Nouri al-Maliki on Twitter. Maliki purportedly refers to the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and Muqtada al-Sadr, a prominent Shia preacher, as “cowards” in the recordings and calls for militias to follow the orders of the Iranian IRGC.
In a tweet on Monday, Sadr said that the tapes attributed to Maliki were real and that the threats Maliki has made to him put his life in jeopardy. To “close the door on intra-Shia conflict,” Sadr urged leaders and clans aligned with Maliki to condemn the tapes.
Sadr left open the possibility that “a third party” had a hand in escalating tensions within the Shia community, pointing to the Iranian IRGC attempting to sow seeds of yet another internal war in Iraq to reap the benefits for themselves, asserting more control over the neighbouring country.
Tuesday morning, Fadhil shared the fifth instalment of Maliki’s tapes on Twitter. Maliki and other militia commanders supported by Iran are heard in this recording emphasising the necessity of “blood-shedding in Iraq with the agreement and fatwas from the religious leaders.” Maliki counsels those in attendance to cooperate closely with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and not with the Ministry of Intelligence of Iran.
“The next phase is combat; everyone is fighting for their lives. Sadr wants to kill and commit mass murder. I have no faith in the Iraqi army or police, and I have made this clear to the country’s prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi. I also don’t have faith in the PMF. They have become a bunch of cowards”, al-Maliki mentioned somewhere in the fourth recording.