Iraq's Sadr Threatens to Quit Parliament to Pressure his Opponents

Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on June 3, 2022. (AFP)
Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on June 3, 2022. (AFP)
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Iraq's Sadr Threatens to Quit Parliament to Pressure his Opponents

Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on June 3, 2022. (AFP)
Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr delivers a speech in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf on June 3, 2022. (AFP)

Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr warned on Thursday that members of his bloc will quit parliament if he is thwarted from forming a national majority government.

He made his remarks days before the deadline he set to his rival Shiite pro-Iran Coordination Framework to reach a solution to the country's political impasse.

In a televised speech, Sadr said he was ready to join the country's opposition if the deadlock were to continue.

The deadlock is "deliberate," he charged, saying his MPs should prepare their resignation letters because the Framework was continuing to impede the government formation efforts.

Sadr's latest warning is the starkest since the eruption of the crisis erupted in wake of the parliamentary elections that saw the influential cleric emerge as the clear winner with 75 MPs. The Framework has challenged the results, dismissing them as a sham.

Sadr has since formed a coalition with Sunni and Kurdish MPs to form a comfortable majority bloc in parliament.

As the Framework demonstrated it was unwilling to help form the government, Sadr announced he would grant them three months to form one and yet, no progress has been made. The deadline ends soon.

"If the Sadrist bloc is seen as an obstacle in the formation of a government, then they are ready to quit," Sadr declared on Thursday.

Parliament went into recess on Thursday and will convene again in July. It seems unlikely that that will be enough time for the deadlock to be resolved.

Observers have expressed alarm at Sadr's latest announcement, with some viewing it as a sign that he has no solution to ending the impasse.

It will also leave his Sunni and Kurdish allies at a loss over what position they will make in wake of his dramatic announcement.



Israel Intercepts Missile from Yemen, Military Says

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile as others wave the flags of Palestine (R) and Yemen (L) during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 17 March 2025 against US airstrikes on Houthi positions. (EPA)
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile as others wave the flags of Palestine (R) and Yemen (L) during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 17 March 2025 against US airstrikes on Houthi positions. (EPA)
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Israel Intercepts Missile from Yemen, Military Says

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile as others wave the flags of Palestine (R) and Yemen (L) during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 17 March 2025 against US airstrikes on Houthi positions. (EPA)
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile as others wave the flags of Palestine (R) and Yemen (L) during a protest in Sanaa, Yemen, 17 March 2025 against US airstrikes on Houthi positions. (EPA)

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had intercepted a projectile launched from Yemen that crossed into Israeli territory.

Sirens had earlier sounded in several areas of Israel.

The Iran-backed Houthi group has repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what it has described as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The firing of the projectile came after Israel resumed airstrikes against targets in Gaza that killed more than 400 people, according to Palestinian health authorities, in an onslaught that ended weeks of relative calm after talks to secure a permanent ceasefire stalled.