Factbox-Iraq’s competing Shi’ite groups

FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr protest against corruption, in Baghdad, Iraq July 30, 2022. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Shi’ite Muslim political and paramilitary groups are escalating a tense political standoff which many Iraqis worry could lead to new conflict in the country.

Iraq’s longest post-election political deadlock has given way to demonstrations on both sides of a Shi’ite divide, led by the mercurial cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on one side and a collection of mostly Iran-aligned groups on the other, known together as the Coordination Framework.