US, Iran holding secret talks to stabilize situation in Baghdad: sources
Sources in the US and the Persian Gulf reported Saturday that Washington and Tehran are engaged in secret talks on stabilizing the situation in Baghdad. Observers say that the two countries have a joint interest in ending the political chaos in the Iraqi capital after reaching the conclusion that the only one profiting from the current situation is ISIS.
Sources close to the contacts report that the Americans and the Iranians have agreed to support the continuation of the tenures of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the Iraqi parliament's speaker, Salim Al Jabouri.
Meanwhile, Tehran called on the leader of the Shiites in Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, whose supporters took over parts of Baghdad's Green Zone last week, to return to Qom, the center of religious rule in Iran. He was ordered by Iranian clerics to whom he is subordinate to rein in his supporters in Iraq and cease his actions against al-Abadi's government.