Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr flew to Iran on Monday, a top aide said, one day after hundreds of his supporters withdrew from their occupation of Iraq’s highly fortified International Zone in a protest that had paralyzed the country’s government, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Ibrahim Al Jaberi, head of the Sadr office in Baghdad, said the cleric had departed for Iran Monday, but provided no other details on his itinerary.

His departure came as spokesman for Iran’s foreign ministry, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, “expressed Iran’s readiness to use all its links in line with paving the way for Iraqi talks,” according to an official statement carried by Iran’s state-controlled news agency.

Others in Mr. Sadr’s home office in the city of Najaf refused to confirm or deny news of the cleric’s travel because they didn’t have permission from Mr. Sadr himself. 

It remained unclear on Monday afternoon whether Mr. Sadr had stopped for meetings in the Iranian capital of Tehran or proceeded on to the holy city of Qom, where the cleric has spent several recent years studying.

Source: MENA