Iran loses 'key Iraq ally'

By Sadeq Saba
BBC regional analyst

As Iraqi Shias bury their assassinated leader, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqr Hakim, Iran is the only foreign country to have declared three days of official mourning for him.

The ayatollah was killed in a massive bomb attack in the holy city of Najaf on Friday.

Iran has lost a powerful friend within Iraq

Ayatollah Hakim lived in exile in Iran for more than two decades before returning home in May after the downfall of Saddam Hussein.

The Iranian Shia leadership had nurtured him and his armed organisation during his years of exile.

He was Iran's most reliable ally in Iraq, and his loss now is a huge blow to Tehran and its vision of a friendly post-Saddam administration.

Like Iranian ruling clerics, Ayatollah Hakim was almost unique among senior Iraqi Shia authorities in believing in mixing politics and religion.

Pragmatic

It is true that Ayatollah Hakim moderated his views after returning to Iraq and he never publicly supported an Iranian-style theocracy in his country.

This standpoint and his decision later to cautiously co-operate with the US-led forces in Iraq certainly hurt some elements in Iran's power circles.

But it is believed that Iran's leadership in general understood Ayatollah Hakim's pragmatic approach and his support for a broad-based government in Iraq.

With the assassination of Ayatollah Hakim, Iran now has to start all over again to find another reliable friend in a position of power in Iraq.

Ayatollah Hakim's brother, Abdel-Aziz, who is tipped as a possible successor, also has close ties with Iran.

But he is a junior cleric and does not have the same religious credentials as his older brother.

Iran may also try to improve relations with radical Shia clerics such as Moqtada Sadr, who strongly opposes the American presence in Iraq.

Iran's other option is to strengthen its existing friendly ties with Iraqi Kurds who are well represented in Iraq's provisional administration.