![Adil Abdul-Mahdi Prime Minister of Iraq [Twitter]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Adil-Abdul-MahdiDt_szdOU4AAbTpY.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
Sources close to two of the most influential figures in Iraq revealed on Thursday that Iran intervened to prevent the overthrow of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, amid anti-government demonstrations that erupted weeks ago.
The sources informed Reuters that Shi’ite cleric, Muqtada Al-Sadr, demanded this week for Abdul-Mahdi to call for holding early elections in an effort to calm the largest popular protests in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003, and urged his main political rival, Hadi Al-Amiri, who leads the Iran-backed Fatah Alliance, to help oust the prime minister.
However, Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, intervened on Wednesday in a secret meeting held in Baghdad, and asked Al-Amiri and the Popular Mobilisation Forces leadership to continue supporting Abdul-Mahdi, according to five well-informed sources on the meeting.