Two of Iraq's Shiite Parties Denounce Iran

Hassani aides begged local officials to remove the car and close the garage, but they did nothing, said Aboudi, the head of Hassani's political wing. A few days later, an improvised explosive device blew up about 3 a.m. in front of Hassani's offices. His supporters were convinced that local police forces were responsible because, they said, the device was planted during a nighttime curfew.

Local government officials in Karbala could not be reached for comment Friday. Aboudi called the two incidents assassination attempts and said Iran was behind them. He said local officials did nothing because of their allegiance to Tehran.

Hassani's supporters later seized control of the garage. But Tuesday afternoon, local forces raided the garage, as well as the next-door mosque and Hassani's offices. Seven people were killed by gunfire, and more than 200 followers of the cleric were detained.

An agreement was reached Thursday to end the violence and return the mosque and offices to Hassani's followers. But both sides said prospects remain high for future clashes.

"They are targeting him because he is an Iraqi," said Aboudi, who said Hassani is one of the most prominent Arab Shiite clerics. Most of the other senior clerics are Persian or have ties to Iran.

Hassani, a former civil engineering student who says he has written 128 books, wears the black turban that identifies him as a descendant of the prophet Muhammad.

Followers of Hassani say he is an ayatollah, which means he can issue religious opinions known as fatwas , but others say he never earned that title. His first major clash with Iran came earlier this summer when a cleric in Tehran ridiculed Hassani on a widely watched Iranian television network. Hassani became the butt of jokes after it was said that he claimed to have lunched with the Imam Mahdi, a revered figure that Shiites believe will reemerge before the end of time. Hassani's followers deny that he ever made those remarks, and some attacked the Iranian consulate in Basra with steel bars and construction tools in June, demanding an apology. They never received one.

Although Hassani is still a relatively minor figure, analysts believe that his growing authority represents rising discontent with Tehran.

Although Hassani was originally aligned with anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, he is now becoming the more radical of the two, said Cole, the professor of Middle Eastern history. "The people that are really dissatisfied with the status quo might be more likely now to follow Hassani," he said.

The U.S. military announced Friday that American and Iraqi forces in Baghdad have killed 97 people associated with death squads and detained 501 others since the launch of a plan last month to quell the relentless sectarian violence in the city. The military said a combined force of 30,000 security personnel has completed more than 49,500 patrols and seized more than 59 weapons caches since the plan, Operation Forward Together, was launched July 9.

Iraq's government on Friday night imposed a two-day ban on cars in Baghdad to prevent violence among the thousands of pilgrims arriving for a holiday this weekend commemorating the death of Imam Musa Kadhim, the eighth imam of Shiite Islam and one of the religion's most revered figures. About 1,000 people were killed last year during the holiday when rumors of a suicide bomber triggered a stampede.

A car bomb that exploded Friday night killed one person and injured four others, Iraqi television reported.

Special correspondent Naseer Nouri and other Washington Post staff contributed to this report.