The largest Iraqi Shiite Political Party broke from Iran this week.
The party pledged their allegiance to the moderate and pro-Iraq Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. 
Shi’ite cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim (C), the leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, speaks during a news conference in Baghdad May 12, 2007. (Ceerwan Aziz/Reuters)
Iraq’s largest Shiite political party split from Iran this week and pledged allegiance to the moderate pro-secularist Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani:
Iraq’s biggest Shi’ite party on Saturday pledged its allegiance to the country’s top Shi’ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in a move that would distance it from Shi’ite Iran where it was formed.
The Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) said it had introduced significant policy changes and changed its name to the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) — dropping the word “Revolution.”
Party officials told Reuters on Friday that the changes were aimed at giving the party more of an Iraqi flavor and to reflect the changing situation in the country since the U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
They said the party had been close to Sistani for some time, but a two-day conference on Baghdad that ended on Friday had formalized relations with the influential cleric.
“We cherish the great role played by the religious establishment headed by Grand Ayatollah Sayed Ali al-Sistani… in preserving the unity of Iraq and the blood of Iraqis and in helping them building a political system based on the constitution and law,” said Rida Jawad al-Takki, a senior group member, who read out the party’s decisions to reporters.
The party pledged to follow the guidance of the Shi’ite establishment, he said.
Sistani, a reclusive figure who lives in the Iraqi holy Shi’ite city of Najaf, is the spiritual leader of Iraq’s majority Shi’ites. He rarely makes public statements but his utterances are closely monitored by his followers.
Officials said the party, which was formed in Iran in the 1980s to oppose Saddam, had previously taken its guidance from the religious establishment of Welayat al Faqih, led by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Iran.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani spoke out against sectarian conflict in Iraq and called to all Muslims to unite against the violence in a February declaration.
Previously:
Iraq’s Spiritual Leader Calls for Unity & the Disarming of Militias
Real Developments in Iraq
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Expresses Solidarity with Pope!
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Calls For Peace & Unity in Iraq
