“I had decided to not interfere in political affairs and I now announce my definitive retirement and the closure of all institutions,” Sadr said in a statement, adding that the holy shrine, the holy museum, and Sadr’s heritage authority would be the only places left open.
Sadr announced his resignation a day ahead of the deadline he had given to Iraqi political parties.
Sadr on Saturday gave a three day ultimatum to Iraqi political parties, saying he would sign an agreement only with people that have not been a part of the government since 2003.
“If this is not achieved, then there is no room for reform, and therefore there will be no need for me to interfere with what happens in the future, with a tweet or otherwise,” he said at the time, but his 72 hours deadline was set to end on Tuesday.
Sadr’s office on Monday also released a statement directed at media outlets, saying that they strictly prohibit for anyone to represent the Sadrist faction in political affairs, while speaking to media outlets, and on social media platforms.
The cleric’s close aid, Salih Mohammed al-Iraqi, through which Sadr often released his statements, also marked his Telegram channel and Twitter account as “closed” on Monday.
Sadr’s resignation also came as Kadhim al-Haeri announced his withdrawal from politics citing health reasons in a statement published earlier in the day.
Haeri is an Iraqi religious scholar and ayatollah who went to Iran to teach in Qom in 1973. He was a student of Sadr’s uncle and a classmate of his father. In 2003, he designated Sadr as his representative in Iraq, breaking with him shortly after, but claims that he remained the latter’s teacher and mentor for a while continued to loom after that.
The situation escalated in late July after supporters of Sadr organized large demonstrations in Baghdad and his loyalists stormed the Iraqi parliament, and to date, continue to stage sit-ins outside the Green Zone.
Sadrist supporters expanded their protests towards the gates of the Supreme Judicial Council building on Tuesday, after a request from Sadr to dissolve the current parliament was rejected by the judiciary, saying the body lacks the authority to interfere in legislative or executive matters.
Iraq held snap parliamentary elections in October but disagreements prevented political parties from electing a president and a prime minister for the country.
Sadr, whose movement became the kingmakers of the vote by winning 73 seats, ordered all of his parliamentarians to resign from the parliament in June, making the pro-Iran Coordination Framework the largest coalition.
Supporters of the Shiite cleric labeled the Coordination Framework's pick for PM as "corrupt" and accused him of having close ties to former premier Nouri al-Maliki, but both the Framework’s plans to form a government, and the Sadrists attempt for a new election were to no avail, putting Iraq in a record period without a government.
Additional reporting by Layal Shakir
