Sadr Movement MPs hold consultation meeting in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Former Sadrist bloc members of the Iraqi parliament gathered in Baghdad on Friday night for a consultation meeting at the call of Shiite National Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr. The session was chaired by Hassan al-Athari, the head of the bloc among the parliamentarians who resigned, a source within the movement told Shafaq News. According to the source, Sadr instructed his former MPs to prepare for celebrations marking the Prophet Muhammad's birthday and to avoid engaging in media disputes. The source added that Sadr sent each former member a copy of his latest publication about his father, Mohammed al-Sadr, as a gift. Participants also discussed the general situation in Iraq and the wider region. The source said some groups within the Coordination Framework have continued efforts to contact Sadr and persuade him to return to the political process, but those initiatives have not produced results. The source added that the doors of Sadr's "Hanana" headquarters in Najaf remain closed to such contacts and that the decision rests solely with him. The meeting comes after 73 Sadrist lawmakers resigned from parliament following the 2022 government-formation crisis and the movement's boycott of the November 11, 2025 parliamentary elections.