Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Friday rejected what he called the “militarization of shrines” after videos showed pilgrims mimicking rocket fire during the annual Arbaeen religious procession.
His statement coincided with the surprise appearance of Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Karbala and Najaf, a day after Iran’s top security official Ali Larijani visited Baghdad. The back-to-back trips stirred debate in Iraq’s political circles as Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani seeks to repair ties with Washington.
Relations between Baghdad and Washington remain strained, particularly over US opposition to legislation enshrining the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) as a state institution. The law has divided Iraq’s Shiite factions and drawn criticism from Washington.
An Iraqi official told Asharq al-Awsat the border agreement signed during Larijani’s visit was planned in advance and unrelated to US pressure over the PMF. A security source said Sudani had already clarified to senior American officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that the PMF was recognized as a national institution.
“Washington knows Sudani has acted firmly,” the source said, citing his unprecedented move to publicly blame Kataib Hezbollah for recent clashes south of Baghdad.
The US State Department, commenting on Larijani’s visits to Baghdad and Beirut, said the Trump administration “supports the sovereignty of Lebanon, Iraq and all states in the region” and rejected any role for “Iran-backed militias that sow division and spread terrorism.”
Araghchi, by contrast, arrived in Najaf and Karbala without official protocol, blending in with hundreds of thousands of Iranian pilgrims attending the Shiite commemoration. Iraqi officials viewed the move with unease, as it came while Baghdad sought to ease tensions with Washington.
Videos circulated online showed Iranian pilgrims inside the Imam Hussein shrine staging mock missile strikes, while other clips displayed models of rockets, widely interpreted as symbols of Iranian power during the June war with Israel.
The spectacle prompted Sadr to issue a handwritten statement declaring: “Militarization of shrines is forbidden.”
The populist cleric, long wary of dragging Iraq into conflicts between Iran and Israel, has repeatedly warned against what he calls “reckless voices” among Tehran-aligned militias.
