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Reuters
Reuters
Politics

Explainer: What's driving the power struggle in Iraq?

Moqtada Sadr Iraq Iran Moqtada alSadr Thaier AlSudani Saddam Hussein Coordination Framework Maliki Baghdad Islamic State
Supporter of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protest against corruption, inside the parliament in Baghdad, Iraq July 30, 2022. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

A power struggle in Iraq between the influential Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr and Iran-backed Shi'ite rivals has escalated with his supporters breaking into parliament and beginning an open-ended sit-in protest.

The tussle over who gets to form the next government has deepened a fissure in the Shi'ite community that has dominated Iraqi politics since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

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