Latest news with #Shiite
Shafaq News
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Mass judicial exodus threatens Iraqi elections
Shafaq News/ Iraq is heading toward a constitutional crisis just months before parliamentary elections on November 11, 2025, as the mass resignation of Federal Supreme Court judges threatens to derail the electoral timeline, a top legal expert warned on Friday. Hazem al-Rudaini, Deputy Head of Iraq's Strategic Center for Human Rights (SCHR), cautioned that the resignations jeopardize the legal foundation of the election. 'It is constitutionally impossible to hold parliamentary elections without the Federal Supreme Court,' he said, pointing to Article 93(7) of the 2005 Constitution, which grants the Court sole authority to ratify election results. Nine judges, including six principal members, resigned Thursday in protest over political pressure, reportedly linked to the Court's 2023 ruling that annulled the 2013 Khor Abdullah maritime agreement with Kuwait. A judicial source told Shafaq News that the fallout from that decision triggered their departure. Members of the Parliamentary Legal Committee expressed alarm. MP Mohammed al-Khafaji described the resignations as 'deeply troubling,' while MP Raed al-Maliki accused political factions of hijacking the judiciary. 'The government and certain parties want to turn the Federal Court into a tool, all while claiming to protect national sovereignty,' he asserted. Al-Maliki criticized the broader 'failure' of Iraq's Shiite leadership to insulate institutions from political interference, warning that the situation sets a dangerous precedent and confirming that parliament is holding emergency consultations to safeguard judicial independence. The crisis stems from a September 2023 ruling in which the Court nullified Law No. 42 of 2013, invalidating Iraq's navigation agreement with Kuwait over the Khor Abdullah waterway. The Court ruled the law unconstitutional, claiming it lacked the two-thirds majority required under Article 61(4). In April 2025, Iraq's president and prime minister appealed the ruling, arguing the agreement covered maritime coordination—not border demarcation—and should fall under Iraq's obligations under the 1966 Vienna Convention.
Shafaq News
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
We are your fighters: Pro-Khamenei mobilization emerges in southern Iraq
Shafaq News/ A group of Shiite seminary students in Basra announced on Thursday that they are prepared to carry out suicide operations in support of Iran. The group declared loyalty to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and affirmed their adherence to the religious authority in Najaf [Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani]. The announcement, read aloud during a press conference, marks the first public mobilization of its kind in Iraq since the outbreak of direct hostilities between Israel and Iran. 'We do not condemn, we do not issue statements—we point our weapons at the chests of traitors,' the statement read. 'To Sayyed Khamenei, we say: we are your fighters.' The group called on the Iraqi government to move beyond 'cold statements' and enact sovereign action by immediately closing Iraqi airspace to any aircraft used for military operations against Iran, calling such a move 'the least level of response.' They further demanded the expulsion of foreign forces, singling out US troops as 'the most dangerous occupiers,' and described the American embassy in Baghdad as 'a poisoned dagger in Iraq's sovereignty.' Speaking to Shafaq News, cleric Sheikh Ali al-Maliki emphasized, 'The time calls for action, not compromise. We are openly declaring ourselves martyrdom projects in the hands of the Guardian Jurist, Ayatollah Khamenei, and we are fully prepared to defend Iran and confront the agents of the Zionist [Israel] project.' Meanwhile, in Babil province, residents of Al-Midhatiya staged a demonstration, raising images of both the Najaf clerical establishment and Khamenei, alongside Iranian and Iraqi flags. Protesters denounced Israeli strikes on Iran and pledged full solidarity with Tehran. The escalation comes days after Abu Ala al-Walai, secretary-general of the Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada armed group, warned that dozens of Iraqi "martyrs-in-waiting" are prepared to attack US interests if full-scale war erupts between Iran and Israel. Tensions have soared since June 13, when Israel launched a surprise wave of missile strikes deep inside Iranian territory. Iran responded that same night with massive retaliatory barrages. The exchanges have resulted in dozens of casualties and widespread infrastructure damage on both sides, triggering international alarm over the potential for a broader war that could destabilize the entire region.
Qatar Tribune
18 hours ago
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Lebanon's Hezbollah terms Khamenei threats ‘absurd'
Lebanon's Hezbollah militia on Thursday described threats on the life of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as 'absurd and foolish' and likely to result in catastrophic consequences. In its statement, the Iran-backed Shiite group said that such threats from Israel and United States represented an insult to hundreds of millions of Muslims and supporters of what it termed the 'resistance' against Israel. Hezbollah, which was badly weakened by Israeli attacks last year, said it was 'more determined than ever' to support Khamenei's leadership and backed Iran in its struggle with Israel and the US. Hezbollah has thus far largely stayed out of the current conflict between Iran and Israel that began with Israeli airstrikes on Iran on Friday. (DPA)
New York Post
19 hours ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Iran's ‘Axis of Resistance' are abandoning the Islamic Republic in its fight against Israel: ‘Time to keep your head down'
Iran's once-feared 'Axis of Resistance' has appeared to have turned its back on the Islamic Republic — leaving the theocracy high and dry as it fights for its survival and waning influence in the Middle East, according to experts. While Tehran has spent decades building up militias in Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, most of the groups have found themselves battered in recent years, making them unable and unwilling to take on the Jewish state and support Iran. Instead, the once-devoted Iranian proxies — which include Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and Shiite militias — are focused on their own survival. Some have even lost their faith in Iran's ability to protect them. 'For all of these networks right now, it's about survival. They all understand the wrath of these types of military campaigns,' Renad Mansour, a senior fellow and Iraq Initiative project director at the Chatham House think tank told the Wall Street Journal. 6 Iran has found itself increasingly isolated and with little allies to turn to amid the escalating battle with Israel. Getty Images 6 The Houthi-rebels in Yemen are one of the few groups publicly supporting Iran, but the terror group has accomplished little since the conflict began last week. AP 'Many of them question if this is the time for resistance or whether it's the time to keep your head down and try to stay out of this conflict,' he added. The ongoing war in Gaza has claimed about 20,000 Hamas fighters and destroyed the vast majority of its terror infrastructure, according to the Israeli military — with the group only launching a few missiles over the border following the start of the conflict with Iran. Hezbollah — which was once considered Iran's most powerful proxy — has been similarly crippled following last year's war campaign in Lebanon, which saw the Israel Defense Forces wipe out nearly all of the terror group's leaders, including founder Hassan Nasrallah. Israel's surprise pager attack last September, which killed dozens of Hezbollah militants and wounded thousands more, also left a lasting chilling effect, with Arab diplomats telling the WSJ that the group is prioritizing its recovery rather than jumping into another conflict. Some members of the paramilitary group also feel that Iran did little to protect them from the pager attack, with some Hezbollah figures going so far as to blame the intelligence failures in part on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, the diplomats said. 6 Hamas is struggling to keep its hold on Gaza amid the renewed fighting and Israeli occupation. AP While Hezbollah had fired nearly daily missiles at Israel following the start of the war in Gaza, the group has yet to fire a single rocket after its patrons in Iran were attacked last week. Lebanese officials, who are maintaining the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, have also warned the group to stay out of the conflict after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam publicly stated on Monday that their nation will not be dragged into another war. Tehran also lost another of its major supporters late last year when Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad was ousted from office in a lightning revolution. 6 Hezbollah is still reeling from its own fight with Israel, with Lebanese officials warning the Iran-backed group from getting involved in another war. AP Assad's toppling marked a huge blow to Iran's influence in the Middle East, which was only further emphasized after reports emerged that Iran did not order its allied militias to help Assad, a long-time ally, and instead called on the groups to evacuate. Meanwhile, in Iraq, Iranian-backed Shiite militias have yet to target US military bases like they've done so in the past. The groups are allegedly wary of entering war now that several members of their leadership have entered the government and are enjoying a lucrative period under the country's oil-based economy, according to Arab diplomats with knowledge of the internal discussions. 6 Houthi supporters in Yemen's capital burn an Israeli and American flag. AP 'They've been sort of benefiting from Iraq's stability, in a way, and the high oil prices to develop economic empires,' said Mansour of the dozens of Iran-backed groups. Only a single group in Iraq, Kataeb Hezbollah, has issued a statement on the conflict, warning that it would only get involved if the US were to directly join the fray. The Yemen-based Houthi rebels have expressed support for Iran publicly, stating that they will target Israeli and US ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden over the missile attacks on Tehran. 6 Smoke clouds billow at Tehran's Shahran oil depot following an Israeli strike. via REUTERS The terror group has also fired missiles at Israel in response to the new conflict, with the rebels touting that future attacks will be held in direct coordination with Iran. Analysts, however, believe the show of force is only to maintain appearances. 'It's a Houthi-first policy,' Elisabeth Kendall, a Middle East expert and the head of the University of Cambridge's Girton College, told the WSJ. 'They're not going to put their own necks on the line for the supreme leader. They're going to figure out what's actually best for them,' she added. The Houthis' terror infrastructure has been decimated over the past year by repeated American and British airstrikes. The US attacks in March and April, which were the subject of the SignalGate controversy, left the Houthis missile and drone launch sites significantly degraded, according to US officials.
Shafaq News
a day ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Najaf scholar backs top Shiite authority's call to end Iran-Israel war
Shafaq News/ A prominent scholar from the Shiite seminary in Najaf, Noor al-Saadi, on Thursday, expressed full support for the latest statement by Iraq's top religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, regarding the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel. Speaking to Shafaq News, al-Saadi said, 'We share the supreme religious authority's absolute and firm condemnation of the continued military aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran, and we categorically reject any threats targeting its senior religious and political leadership.' He added that 'such aggressive acts violate all religious and moral standards, blatantly breach international norms and laws, and pose grave risks for the entire region.' Al-Saadi echoed the warning issued by Ayatollah al-Sistani, stressing that further military escalation could spiral out of control and lead to widespread chaos, compounding the suffering of regional populations and harming the interests of all parties involved. 'From this standpoint, we join the voice of the wise religious authority in urging all active international actors and countries—especially Islamic nations—to do their utmost to stop this unjust war,' he said. 'We call for a just and peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear file, based on international law and ensuring security and stability for all. This is the core message the supreme religious authority aimed to convey.' Earlier on Thursday, Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani warned against the continuation of Israeli airstrikes on Iran and called on international powers to intervene to stop the war and pursue a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue.
