Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr emerged as a political force partly because of his powerful family background and his ability to stand up to U.S. military forces in 2004.

However, the Sunni population, as well as constituents of the rival Shiite Dawa Party of Nouri al-Maliki and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, view Sadr as a dangerous element prone to radicalism and political violence, the global news service Inter Press Agency said Thursday.

The Iranian influence, IPS says, is an integral factor in determining the future role of Sadr as Iraq heads to key provincial elections in October. The Iranians may tacitly support Sadr as a way to spread their influence in Iraq to counter the United States, but they also view him as an unstable ally, says Wayne White, a former State Department analyst on Iraq.

"(Sadr) is an Iraqi nationalist who supports a centralized Iraq, while the Iranians, of course, want a provincially or regionally fragmented and weak Iraq. Additionally, he is headstrong and unpredictable, something the Iranians find very frustrating," White told United Press International in an e-mail statement.

This should not be taken to foreshadow the end of the Sadrists, IPS says. "Apparently the Iranians have recognized a sea change in Iraqi politics since the Basra offensive and are merely adjusting course to take it into account."