"In this Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020 photo, a poster of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is on display with Arabic that reads, ""Peace, father of Iraq,"" in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq. 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. Standing in its way is the Hawza, the centuries-old institution of religious learning which al-Sistani heads and which follows its own tradition-bound rules. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)"
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