| A parliamentary delegation from Prime Minister al-Maliki's own coalition (mainly now the Da'wa Party and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq) defied him by going off to the holy seminary city of Qom in Iran and negotiating directly with Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr and with the leader of the Quds Brigades of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Brig. Gen. Qasim Sulaymani. The entire episode shows how powerful Iran has become in Iraq. |



