However, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has directed Iraqi leaders to shut down Iraq's protests, even if that means more violence.
and on November 21, Khamenei met in Tehran with Iraqi officials including Falih al-Fayadh, head of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU); Hadi al-Amiri, head of the pro-Iran Badr Organization; and Mohammad Hashimi, head of the prime minister's office.
Mohammad Hashimi just resigned.
It is likely that more persons in Iran are listening to Sistani than to Khamenei, and the change of government in Iraq may increase the pressure in Iran.
The persons around Khamenei are probably very nervous today.
Protesters are reclaiming symbols of Shi’ism and repurposing them in ways that are meaningful to them. As a result, they are also challenging the theme of the cross-national Shiite identity that marked and motivated historical protests, such as those in 1979 and in 1991. The anti-Iranian sentiment, particularly in the south, is a rejection of the Iranian brand of Shi’ism.
The most prominent aspect of this brand is the Iranian-supported parties and militias. These groups are largely seen as corrupt and implicated in extreme violence against Iraqi protesters. As a result, headquarters and offices of Iranian-affiliated Islamist parties and groups throughout the south have been attacked. Iran’s consulates in Najaf and Karbala — Shi’ism’s holiest sites — have been burned. Anti-Iranian chants and anti-Iranian slogans populate the protest spaces in Tahrir and the south.