Iraq’s Sadr Calls for Dissolution of Parliament, Early Elections

Supporters of Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, protesting against a rival bloc's nomination for prime minister, gather at the constitutional hall as they continue their sit-in inside Iraq's parliament in the capital Baghdad's high-security Green Zone, on August 2, 2022. (AFP)

Influential Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr told his followers Wednesday to continue their sit-in inside Iraq’s government zone, and called for the dissolution of the parliament and early elections.

Speaking for the first time since thousands of his followers stormed the parliament building in Baghdad on Saturday, Sadr said the "revolutionaries" must stay and continue their sit-in.