30 minutes ago, hundreds of protestors entered the Iraqi Parliament Building after nearly 12 hours of heavy demonstrations outside of the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq. The protestors rallied at 0906 EST on 27JUL22 in order to protest the nomination of Mohammed al-Sudani as the official nominee of the Coordination Framework bloc, led by Iran-backed Shiite militias and political groups.
The protestors were seen carrying pictures of Muqtada al-Sadr who was elected to lead the Sadr Movement as Prime Minister when his party won the majority of seats in Iraqi Parliament earlier this year. al-Sadr stepped down from politics on June 12th after his coalition failed to elect an Iraqi President. Since then, caretaker Prime Minister al-Kazemi has led the hobbled government and has urged the protestors to depart the Green Zone immediately. Sadr joined the Prime Minister and called for his supporters to leave the area and that their safety was much more important to him than any political victory. He also told them that he would respect their decision if they chose to withdraw, not openly calling for them to do so.
The Iraqi Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief’s office released a statement calling on protestors to leave the Green Zone after several protestors were injured by gunfire from security forces at approximately 1150 EST.
Protesters are now crossing Jumhoreya bridge toward the fortified green zone in #Baghdad #Iraq. pic.twitter.com/oF8Sv49rDM
— Iraqi Day ?? (@iraqi_day) July 27, 2022
As of writing this post, protestors are still in the Parliament building, officially called the Council of Representatives building. However, many have begun to leave after hearing the statement from al-Sadr. The protestors were heard chanting anti-Iran epitaphs and called for the rejection of the election results and the removal of al-Sudani.
