Iraqi Cleric Muqtada Sadr Leaves for Iran Again

22 January 2011

Shi'te cleric Muqtada al-Sadr attends Friday prayers in Kufa, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, 14 Jan 2011

Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has surprised many observers by going back to Iran just over two weeks after his much-commented-upon return to Iraq.

During his brief comeback, Sadr told his followers in a fiery televised speech from the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf, to "resist occupiers, including the U.S. and others, by all possible means."

The U.S. has pledged to withdraw its remaining 50,000 troops from Iraq on schedule by the end of this year. Those troops are involved in mostly support and training of Iraq’s security forces.

Al Arabiya TV, quoting several of Sadr’s close allies, says that the anti-U.S. cleric returned to Iran Thursday to resume his religious studies.

Analyst Houchang Hassanyari, who teaches political science at Canada’s Royal Military College, says that some of Sadr’s allies are claiming that he is returning to Iran due to "alleged threats by the U.S." and others.

Nevertheless, Hassanyari believes that Sadr is merely returning to complete his theological training in Shi’ite jurisprudence, or "fiqh", with top Iranian scholars.

"The official position or explanation for his return to Iran is that he is threatened by Americans and their allies in Iraq to be assassinated," he said. "That’s the official reason. I think what might provoke his return to Iran is the fact that now the government is in place, his colleagues are participating in the government, the Americans are on the verge of leaving Iraq as planned by President Obama and probably everything is settled down and he goes back to continue his education."