In this Sunday, February 2 photo, a poster of Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, right, and Arabic that reads, “the love of the country bonds us together,” is hung in a site of protests, in Najaf, Iraq. Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, Iraq’s top Shiite cleric, turns 90 this year, and when he recently had surgery it sent chills around the country and beyond. What happens when Al Sistani is gone? Iran is likely to try to exploit the void to gain followers among Iraq’s Shiites.
AP