Supporters of the powerful Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have heeded his call to return to their homes after a day of clashes that left at least 30 people dead, wounded hundreds and sparked fears of a wider conflict within the country’s Shia population.
Raising hopes that the immediate crisis would ebb, Sadr on Tuesday called for the Iraqi army to retake control of Baghdad’s green zone, which had been the scene of the fiercest fighting between Sadrist members and pro-Iranian militias. Shortly after noon, the city’s streets were rapidly emptying, as Iraq’s prime minister praised a stand-down that many observers believe helped avert a descent into protracted violence.
In a press conference, Sadr apologised for the violence, which he blamed “rude militias” for inciting. He ordered the end of a sit-in by his followers at the Iraqi parliament.
In response, Mustafa al-Kadhimi lifted a nationwide curfew and residents were seen emerging on to scarred streets in the centre of Baghdad that hours earlier had been a battleground.
A statement released on Sadr’s behalf said: “Peaceful protesters, you have fulfilled and satisfied the demands. We will not allow you to be attacked, you are the protectors of reform. We will not allow new corruption to be led by the corrupt.”
During the height of the clashes, militants have fired rockets at Baghdad’s fortified green zone and sporadic gunfights had erupted between Shia groups in the Iraqi capital and southern towns and cities.
Iran closed its border and urged its citizens to leave Iraq as fighters roamed the streets of the capitalas tensions spilled over in response to Sadr’s decision to exit politics.
The Iranian move came as millions of Iranians were preparing to visit Iraq for an annual pilgrimage to Shia sites. Kuwait also urged its citizens in Iraq to leave the country and encouraged those hoping to travel to Iraq to delay their plans.
Long the most secure pocket of Iraq, the green zone, which houses the national parliament and diplomatic missions, was the scene of running battles between Shia factions that had been increasingly at odds amid intractable efforts to form a government.
The Iraqi army, for the most part, sat out the clashes, unwilling to intervene in a power struggle between the most powerful groups in the land. However, a counterterrorism force was witnessed preventing the entry of a unit from the Popular Mobilisation Unit, an ancillary force raised during the fight against Islamic State that has retained a significant presence since that war ended.
Iraqi troops had also safeguarded diplomatic areas inside the green zone and entrances to key government institutions.
Protesters loyal to Sadr had earlier pulled down barriers outside the government palace with ropes and breached the palace gates. Many rushed into the lavish salons and marbled halls of the palace, a key meeting place for Iraqi heads of state and foreign dignitaries.
Open conflict between Shia groups in Iraq had been feared in recent months as a standoff intensified between militia proxies and political blocs linked to Tehran and the Sadrist bloc, loyal to Sadr, which performed strongly in elections held 10 months ago at the expense of its rival.
Since then, the pro-Tehran factions had been trying to claw back electoral losses, while Sadr had tried unsuccessfully to transform his poll gains into political power.
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Sadr’s withdrawal came after the resignation of his spiritual mentor, Ayatollah Kadhim al-Haeri, who in a surprise statement urged him to follow Iran and challenged his legitimacy to lead the Sadrist movement.
The 48-year-old cleric has threatened to quit on seven occasions over the past 20 years. However, this time he has also forced his MPs to quit their seats and claimed to want to break down Iraq’s political system, which apportions political power along sectarian lines.
Baghdad’s streets remained largely deserted on Tuesday morning, witnesses said. “There is a lot of gunfire in and near the green zone,” said Saud Mansour, a resident of the west of the city. “We have seen the Sadrist trucks in our area, but they are not stopping. They’re heading to the parliament area.”
Images of militia gun trucks roaming the country’s streets have invoked images of the height of the country’s civil war, during which neither the national military nor the occupying US army was able to contain years of brutal sectarian violence, in which Sadr’s Jaysh al-Mahdi was a main protagonist.
“They have nationalist credentials now, or so they say,” said Ahmad Kurdi, 36, a retailer from east Baghdad. “But if this fight continues to develop, it becomes something bigger than they can control.
“And do the Iranians really think they can defeat the Sadrists? If they do, they’re making a mistake that everyone will pay for.”