WATCH: Iraqi candidates campaigning in Iran spark criticism
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – As Iraqis get ready to head to the polls on May 12, it has come to light that some candidates may also be campaigning in Iran, namely in Tehran.
Over 7,000 candidates representing different parties are competing to fill 329 seats in the Iraqi Parliament.
Electoral campaigns kicked off across Iraq on April 14. Since then, posters for nearly every candidate can be seen everywhere, on walls, streets, and streetlights in cities and towns across the country.
However, footage and pictures circulating on social media show some candidates allegedly campaigning in Iran, and in particular in its capital.
The following video posted on Facebook shows an Iranian citizen filming a poster of Hadi al-Amiri in Iran. Amiri is the commander of Iranian-backed Shia Hashd al-Shaabi militia, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and is the head of the militia’s list - al-Fatih - in the upcoming Iraqi elections.
“Many Iraqi candidates are campaigning in Iran. What does this [the Iraqi election] have to do with us [in Iran]?” the man shouts on video as he tears apart the poster of Amiri. “It has nothing to do with us.”
Photos published by Iranian news agencies revealed that multiple Iraqi candidates, including Haider al-Abadi, the head of the Nasr (Victory) Alliance and current Prime Minister of Iraq, have their electoral campaign posters on full display in the streets of Tehran and Qom city.
Recently, Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, warned of “foreign influence” in the upcoming national elections, stating it could undermine the country’s ability to carry out a free and fair vote.
Iran is one of Iraq’s closest allies, with both countries being home to the largest Shia Muslim population in the world.
Kurdish and some Iraqi officials, as well as Western powers, have repeatedly criticized Iran for interfering the internal affairs of Iraq and have warned of Tehran’s unrivaled influence in Baghdad.
Editing by Nadia Riva
