Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of Iraq's largest and most powerful Shiite political party, succumbed to lung cancer in a hospital in Tehran, officials from his party announced Aug. 26. Al-Hakim assumed the leadership of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) when his brother, Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Baqer al-Hakim, was killed by a suicide car bomb in 2003. His elder brother had led the party under Iranian tutelage since the founding of ISCI in Tehran in 1982. As a powerful representative of Iraq's Shiite community and a close ally of Iran, the al-Hakim family is critical to any power-sharing agreement in Baghdad. Though the Iranians have relied heavily on al-Hakim and ISCI to carry out their agenda in Iraq, al-Hakim was also quite diplomatic in his political maneuverings. While keeping close to Tehran, al-Hakim developed a strong relationship with the United States during the administration of former U.S. President George W. Bush and became a key asset in Washington's attempts to stabilize Iraq and negotiate with Iran. Al-Hakim, for example, was a key interlocutor between Iran and the United States in negotiating the Status of Forces Agreement between Baghdad and Washington that formalized the U.S. withdrawal plan for Iraq. Though the last succession between al-Hakim and his brother ran quite smoothly, this next transfer of power could be a bit shakier. Al-Hakim's expected successor is his 38-year-old son, Ammar al-Hakim, who has been preparing for the leadership as vice-president of ISCI. Al-Hakim's younger age, lack of senior clerical credentials and his reputation in Iraq as a corrupt thug may be unsettling to elder and prominent members of the ISCI, such as Adil Abdul-Mahdi, now serving as one of Iraq's two vice presidents, Finance Minister Bayan Jabr, and ISCI party spokesmen Humam al-Hamoudi and Jalaluddin al-Saghir. That said, al-Hakim's illness has been known for quite some time, and the party has long been preparing for the succession. Iran, which has much at stake if al-Hakim's death destabilizes ISCI, has been deeply involved in these succession discussions. The Iraqi Shiite political landscape is severely fractured, and Iran's ability to assert influence in Iraq depends on ISCI's ability to hold itself together and maintain its political clout. When al-Hakim was readmitted to the hospital in Tehran several days ago, it became clear to Iran that his life was coming to an end. It was thus unlikely a coincidence that on Aug. 24, a new Shiite political alliance led by ISCI called the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) was announced in Baghdad. This new political alliance is Iran's way of reshaping the Iraqi political landscape in its favor and at the expense of the United States in the lead-up to parliamentary elections slated for January 2010. The ISCI is still recovering from significant losses in provincial polls held in January, and Shiite rivals of the party, including Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of the Islamic Dawa party and Muqtada al Sadr of the Sadrist Movement will take any opportunity to exploit ISCI's setbacks to try and advance their own agendas. Al-Hakim's death is a major loss to both Iran and the United States, but was long expected. Iran will now accelerate efforts to consolidate Shiite influence in Iraq, and needs a smooth succession in ISCI to ensure its plans do not get swallowed up by Shiite politicking in Baghdad.