Middle East & Africa | The flickering Shia crescent

Shia Muslims are no longer in the ascendant

Despite taking over Iraq, the Shias have been losing momentum

Iranian Protesters clash with security forces durning protest against Islamic Republic regime in Mahabad city, 362 people had been killed in the two-month-long protests, including 56 minors. It also reported that 56 members of the security forces had been killed, in addition to 16,033 people who were arrested. unrest continue in Iran since the murder of Mahsa Amini. Mahabad. Iran. November 16, 2022. Photo by SalamPix/ABACAPRESS.COM — Image: Press Association

Mar 23rd 2023|BAGHDAD, BEIRUT and NAJAF

Visting iraq’s latest grand shrine in what is said to be the world’s largest cemetery, in the holy city of Najaf, has become something of a pilgrimage for people from across the region wanting to salute two of Shia Islam’s modern heroes. One is Qassem Suleimani, the long-serving commander of the Quds force, the foreign arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC); the other is Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the commander of the beefiest umbrella group of Shia militias in Iraq, whose grave is at the shrine. (Suleimani is buried in southern Iran.) Both were killed three years ago in Baghdad by an American drone strike aimed at Suleimani, whose job was to protect and spread the Shia revolution across the region.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “No longer shining so bright”