Since last year's parliamentary elections in October 2021, with a rift between the followers of Muqtada al-Sadr and his political opponents affiliated with Iran, leading to one of

the worst political crises in Iraq in recent years, the Iraqi street entered a new phase of tension on Monday, after the leader of the Sadri movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, announced his final retirement from politics.

Following Sadr's announcement, dozens of supporters stormed the Republican Palace in Baghdad to express their anger, while calling for comprehensive political reforms for months.

On Monday, the Iraqi news agency reported that Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi had directed the suspension of council sessions after "demonstrators entered the government palace

Thousands of Sadr's supporters were heading for this event palace, different from the presidential palace, where the official residence of the President of the Republic is located.

Sadr had won the largest share of seats in last October's election, but failed to form a majority government

In August, Al-Kadhimi launched a "national dialogue" to try to get Iraq out of the impasse, but representatives of Al-Sadri and their leader boycotted the initiative and considered that it "only resulted in some points that fatten and sing from hunger".

Before the withdrawal, Al-Sadr suggested on Saturday that "all parties" on the political scene since the fall of Saddam Hussein, including his own, should abandon government positions to allow the resolution of the political crisis in Iraq.

Al Sadr wrote in a tweet that "there is more important than dissolving Parliament and holding early elections. What is most important is not to involve all the parties and personalities that have been involved in the political process since the 2003 US invasion to this day, including the pectoral stream ".

"I am ready for a maximum of 72 hours to sign an agreement that includes this," he said, noting that "if this is not done, there is no room for reform", but Sadr did not reveal the names of the personalities he intended to appoint to lead the next government.