Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 1
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
A recent and rare visit by an Iraqi prominent Shia leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, to Saudi Arabia has caused concerns among Shia groups in the Arab country, an Iranian expert told Trend.
“Most of Iraqi commentators do not see a positive outcome concerning his recent visit to Saudi Arabia. Considering the Saudi crackdown on Shia minorities in the Kingdom, the Iraqi cleric’s visit is questionable,” Sabah Zanganeh, Iran's envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and a former adviser to the Iranian foreign minister, told Trend.
He also played down the possibility of the rumors suggesting that the visit may have been aimed at conveying messages between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
In the meantime, another political expert who asked to remain anonymous for security reasons told Trend that Iran is very unlikely to appoint Muqtada al-Sadr as a mediator in its dispute with Saudi Arabia as the cleric is a hard-line figure and he appears incapable of assisting in finding a resolution to dispute between the two regional rivals, Tehran and Riyadh.
Meanwhile, there are a number of influential figures in both, Iran and Saudi Arabia, who could properly play the role of a mediator, the source added.
He also confirmed that the cleric’s visit to Saudi Arabia could be interpreted as an indication of a possible gap between Muqtada al-Sadr and other Shia movements in Iraq.
Thamer al-Sabhan, Saudi Arabia's former ambassador to Iraq, welcomed the cleric on Sunday in the port city of Jeddah.
Al-Sadr met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other Saudi officials during the visit.