Al Dawa began as a revivalist Shiite movement in Najaf, Iraq, in 1957, as the political vessel of Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr's Islamic ideology. Its early mission was tio oppose the rise of secularism in Iraq, including Communist influences, and provide a counterweight to the rising influence of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood. The party's mission evolved in the 1970s into opposing the rule of Saddam Hussein and establishing an Islamic republic in Iraq.
Hussein in turn launched a war of eradication against party members and followers. Al Dawa claims that Hussein murdered 200,000 party followers, sympathizers and members of their families.
In 1980, Al Dawa members, including Nur al Maliki, Iraq's future prime minister, and Ibrahim Jaffari, who shepherded Al Dawa's rise, fled to Iran, where they were granted sanctuary, provided training and financial assistance. Dawa members in turn threw their support behind the Iranian revolution, though cautiously. Some party leaders were willing to subsume Al Dawa to the leadership of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. Others argued for maintaining Al Dawa's independence.
The mutual ties would have significant consequences following the American occupation of Iraq and the rise of Al Dawa as Iraq's ruling party. Theose ties also play a significant role in trade relations between Iran and Iraq. The $4 billion trade makes Iran Iraq's second-biggest trading partner after Turkey.
