Clashes erupted in the Iraqi city of Karbala during last Monday’s Arbaeen commemorations between supporters of the Iranian regime and followers of prominent Shia cleric Sadiq al-Shirazi, one of the leading critics of Iran’s system of Wilayat al-Faqih (Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist).
According to media reports, the violence left 54 people injured and around 140 others arrested, although those figures have not been independently verified.
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Videos published by the Iraqi Shaaer TV channel, which is affiliated with al-Shirazi’s office, showed a group gathering outside his office in Karbala carrying portraits of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei and his successor, Mojtaba Khamenei. The demonstrators waved banners bearing religious and political slogans and chanted against al-Shirazi.
The channel said the chants sparked a confrontation with al-Shirazi’s followers. Iraqi police initially intervened to separate the two sides, but the unrest later spread to other parts of the city, prompting Iraqi security forces to use force to restore order.
