Iraqi cleric accuses Mossad of assassinating Imam Ali, 1,300 years ago

A prominent cleric in Iraq came under fire last week after he claimed that Israel orchestrated the assassination of Shiite Islam’s first Imam - over 1,300 years ago. 

In a recorded lecture, the pro-Iranian Shiite cleric repeatedly blamed "the Jews" for killing Ali Ibn Abi Talib.

Ali was in fact assassinated, by another Muslim working for a political rival in 661 CE. His son, Hassan, who succeeded his father, was then assassinated nine years later - cementing the schism between the Muslim faithful. 

Since Shiites venerate Ali and his son as the rightful successors to their Prophet Mohammad, the death of the two Imam caliphs led to the current division between Sunni and Shiite Islam. 

But Iraqi cleric Qais al-Khazali has came up with a new theory: The deaths of Ali and Hassan were at the hands of "the Jews," in particular, the Israeli intelligence service Mossad. First for Ali's death, and then for the deaths of Hassan and his brother Hussein.

"The Jews! The Jews! The Jews! They murdered Hassan, Ali's son, and they did it using a woman," said al-Khazali, claiming that the Mossad used a prostitute for the assassination. 

"The Umayyads were mere collaborators with the Jews. They then assassinated Imam Hussein. They are the same perpetrators, but they used different people."

"Qatam was a prostitute. What was the modus operandi of the Jewish-Israeli intelligence agency? What do we know about them? How do they get their sources? Either through money or through women. In this case, it was a woman. There is no doubt that she was working for the Israeli Mossad at the time and it was through her that they recruited [Imam Ali's assassin]."

The video drew criticism and mockery from Arabic-speaking internet users on social networks, who pointed out that the Mossad did not exist in the 7th century.