Iraq’s top judicial body said Sunday it doesn't have the authority to dissolve the country’s parliament, days after influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr gave it one week to dismiss the legislature so that new elections can be held.
The decision by the Supreme Judicial Council is likely to increase tensions between Sadr’s followers and members of Iran-backed groups as Iraq sinks deeper into its political impasse, now in its 10th month. The impasse is the longest in the country since the 2003 US-led invasion reset the political order.
