Iraq demands Bahraini apology for insulting cleric

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry has decried the Bahraini foreign minister’s “offence” to prominent Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and demanded an official apology.

On Saturday, Bahraini Foreign Minister Khaled Al Khalifa responded to a recent tweet by al-Sadr in which he called on a number of Arab rulers, including Bahrain, to step down from power.

In his tweet, Al-Khalifa harshly criticised the Shia cleric, saying that Iraq was subject to the Iranian control.

The Iraqi Foreign Ministry, for its part, said the top Bahraini diplomat’s tweet was “totally unacceptable in diplomatic traditions”.

The remarks were deemed “insulting to Iraq and its sovereignty and independence,” the ministry said in a statement.

Al-Sadr leads Sairoon political bloc that holds the majority in the Iraqi parliament.