Pro-Iran list claims revered Shiite Imam supports candidate

Iran Focus: a pro-MEK website

With the parliamentary elections in Iraq less than three weeks away, several Shiite groups have started to claim that the revered twelfth Imam in Shiite Islam has guided Iraqis to vote for their candidate, according to an Iraqi cleric from Najaf.

In an interview on Tuesday with the London-based Arab daily a-Sharq al-Awsat, the cleric said that the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) – which includes the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and the Islamic Dawa Party – had adopted the tactic used to gain votes in Iran during the June election of hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.

The tactic involves the UIA having the clergy announce that they have seen Imam Mahdi in their dreams telling Iraqis to vote for a certain candidate.

“Officials of the Alliance list claim that Imam Mahdi had picked the number 555 for their list, so it is a lucky omen and one of the miracles of the Messiah”, he said.

Both SCIRI and Dawa have longstanding ties to Iran.