Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi announced his resignation on Friday after the country’s senior Shi’ite Muslim cleric urged lawmakers to reconsider their support for a government rocked by weeks of deadly anti-establishment unrest. Violence raged on in southern Iraq, however, killing at least 21 people, and one protester was killed in central Baghdad as demonstrations continued including a thousands-strong sit-in at Tahrir Square in the Iraqi capital. Young, unemployed and unarmed protesters have led calls for an overhaul of a political system they say is endemically corrupt and serves foreign powers, especially Baghdad’s ally Tehran. The departure of Abdul Mahdi could be a blow for Iranian influence after Iran’s militia allies and its own commanders intervened last month to keep the premier in place despite mass anti-government unrest. The biggest unrest for years in a country struggling to recover from decades of conflict and sanctions […]