Photos of Khomeini, Khamenei inside an Iraqi official’s office spark controversy

A picture of Baghdad council member , Ali Jaafar al-Alaq, has sparked a debate over the past couple of days between Iraqis on Twitter, even though it was captured from an old videotape.

Al- Alaq appeared in the picture sitting in his official office, in front of a small poster reading “Member of the Baghdad Provincial Council”, while pictures of the two Iranian leaders Ali Khomeini and Ali Khamenei, were posed next to him , as well as a machine gun.

Iraqis took to social media to slam the official for glorifying foreign figures by putting their pictures in an office of the Iraqi state. One commentator wondered, “Is this not the biggest evidence of dependence on Iran?”

This comes two days after al-Alaq criticized the provincial council elections.

He claimed that the Baghdad council’s election, which was held on Wednesday, was headed by a member who is included in the de-Baathification process, noting that one third of the members of the council were not present at the meeting.

"The meeting was subject to constitutional violation and I will challenge it in the Federal Court," he added.

The provincial council of Baghdad has elected Fadhil al-Shuwaili as governor of Baghdad, succeeding Atwan al-Atwani, who became a member of parliament.