Although sectarian and political strife between the Gulf’s main and most powerful kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and various Shiite organizations and political entities, mainly the Middle East’s leading Shi’i political entity, Iran, have been exponentially tense in recent years, Saudi Arabia’s deputy Crown Prince, Mohamed Bin Salman has embraced controversial Shia cleric, spokesman, and militant leader Muqtada Al Sadr.
With Shiite militias rampant sectarian violence taking place throughout Iraq, many innocent Sunni civilians, and Shiites alike, have fallen victim in the midst of the ongoing battle against ISIS initially conducted by a coalition between Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias including the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, more commonly known as Hashd Ash-Sha’bi. The meeting comes at a time when both Saudi Arabia and Muqtada Al Sadr continuously express concerns over Iran’s regional hegemonic influence.
Crown Prince Mohamed Bin Salman’s meeting with Muqtada Al Sadr falls in line with recent attempts to reconcile diplomatic relations between Riyadh and Baghdad after 25 years. It has also been reported that Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel Al Jubeir visited Iraq earlier in the year to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi. Yet what seems to be quite ironic is Sarayah As-Salaam’s, formerly known as Jaish Al Mahdi, commander, Abu Duaa Al-Issawi, will also be attending the meeting according to Iraqi parliamentary sources. Sarayah As-Salaam, or The Peace Brigades, partaking in the sectarian bloodshed of Sunni civilians in the Salahudeen Province in the city of Samaraa and Jurf al-Sakhar region in December of 2015 should raise red flags for Saudi Arabia. However, it seems as if the two parties have mutual interests that intend to combat Iran’s expansionist regional project. In the summer of 2016, Al Sadr’s supporters stormed the Green Zone, or the Iraqi parliament, in protest to demand government transparency, end to corruption and a call for the reduction of external influence, particularly that of Iranian foreign policy.
More recently, Saudi Arabia’s ongoing fight against Houthi militants to the south in Yemen has also fallen parallel to the concerns Muqtada Al Sadr has raised. As the Syrian Arab Army, Hezbollah, and other Shiite militias from Iraq regularly receive aid, so to does the Houthi establishment in Yemen receive aid from Iran as Saudi security forces have intercepted smuggled weapons on their way to Yemen from Iran on multiple occasions.
Interestingly enough, Al Sadr, leader of a Shiite militia himself, has called for the dismantling of other Shiite militias that are regularly funded and trained by Iran. Although this may coincide with Saudi Arabia’s national security interests, it is difficult to determine what Muqtada Al Sadr has in mind for the near and extended future as he most definitely has blood on his hands which has resulted from the notorious sectarian violence conducted by his Shiite death squads after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.