Muqtada Al-Sadr: ‘US elections nothing but a prerecorded tape’

BAGHDAD — Influential Shia cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr has criticized U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, condemning what he describes as Western interference aimed at controlling Arab and Muslim nations and perpetuating regional conflicts. In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Al-Sadr urged Middle Eastern youth to recognize the impact of Western policies on their societies and warned against placing faith in U.S. election outcomes, which he described as inconsequential to real change in the region.

Al-Sadr criticized both Democratic and Republican parties for their support of Israel, calling it “the biggest challenge in the Middle East.” He dismissed U.S. election promises as “a prerecorded tape,” suggesting they lack genuine commitment to addressing issues in the region.

Full statement from Muqtada Al-Sadr:

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Many place their hopes on the U.S. elections, where Democrats and Republicans compete to solve their problems and address their personal or public aspirations to bridge the gap faced by so-called Third World countries. However, it is clear to those who observe that much of what the Third World, and particularly the Middle East, suffers from are repercussions of policies adopted by oppressive Western governments, especially successive American administrations.

While these administrations may seek to portray themselves as saviors, the reality is quite the opposite.

The candidates in the U.S. elections, as well as their predecessors in the White House, remain the biggest supporters of Israel, which can be considered the biggest challenge in the Middle East.

Do not be deceived by their calls for ceasefires in Gaza or Lebanon. Those who truly wish to end the conflict would cut off the endless supply of weapons and support to the Zionist terrorists.

Yet, after witnessing the resilience of the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine, they are now attempting to mend the gaps they have fallen into. Once viewed as the most secure state in the region, Israel now suffers from the tolls of war, migration, and fear.

Indeed, every war that unfolds in our countries is their creation, aimed at subjugating Arabs and Muslims under Western control and its agenda, which has taken upon itself to dismantle peace and religions by promoting wars, the LGBTQ+ communities, reducing populations, spreading chaos, polluting the environment, and proliferating nuclear weapons, among other actions.

Yes, the American political drama remains the same from one election to the next, differing only in trivial details. Since Arab and Muslim nations adopted the colonialist and hegemonic Western approach, they have endured dictatorship, wars, corruption, theft of resources, displacement, migration, division, hateful sectarianism, deprivation of rights, and the sale of sacred sites, foremost among them Jerusalem, which was handed to the Jews without cost.

It is disgraceful for any Muslim or Arab to pin their hopes on a “fool” or “madman” who has no understanding of humanity, religion, or conscience whatsoever. With the results of their elections to be revealed in just a few days, manipulated even from beyond their borders, we shall witness how their words and empty promises change, showing no credibility. Relations between Netanyahu and the new U.S. president will soon return to normal, and the curtain will fall on this performance intended to show a rift between them for the satisfaction of their people, who generally oppose wars, massacres, and the killing of civilians—actions committed by the Zionist Jewish arsenal against our beloved people in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria, with more yet to come, as they say.

Today, our youth must become aware of the realities that many have attempted to obscure and alter to place Eastern societies under Western control in every sense, gradually stripping them of their dignity, rights, and willpower.

Otherwise, America, which claims to champion humanity, has fallen into stark hypocrisy. It supports the Ukrainian people in their war against the Russian Federation, opposing Russia. At the same time, it antagonizes the Palestinian and Lebanese people while supporting the Israeli Zionists.

If Ukraine is considered vulnerable in facing Russia, and thus supporting it is seen as support for the vulnerable and for peace, then the Palestinian and Lebanese people are likewise vulnerable. The presence of the resistance, its factions, and liberation movements are the result of oppression, occupation, forced displacement, and settlement, along with violations against sovereign nations like Lebanon and Syria, as occurred with the occupation of Iraq, which sparked the dawn of resistance.

However, what actually happened is that America and the West planted Ukraine near Russia, and likewise planted Israel in the land of Arabs and Muslims to create chaos, allowing them to dominate and impose their authority.

Let us therefore understand that U.S. elections are nothing but a prerecorded tape, making no real difference. Our hopes should first be placed in ourselves, granting ourselves hope, strength, honor, and dignity. He who knows himself knows his Lord. Only then will we be worthy of liberation from the oppression of those close to us and from the Western fascist powers who grant themselves the right to kill civilians with brazen impunity.

By this, we protect our blood, our families, and our countries from humiliation and disgrace, refusing to allow our societies to bow before the chaotic worldly onslaught that global arrogance seeks to impose.

Peace be upon those who follow guidance—the guidance of Muhammad and his pure family—and distance themselves from the disgrace of their enemies, from the Umayyads to today’s Israeli Zionists. Praise be to God, who has honored me with the completion of the criminalization law in our beloved Iraq, and this law will be a boundary that none shall cross without facing consequences under the law.

And our final prayer is praise to God, the Lord of all worlds.