Iraqi political leader An ally of both the US and Iran Abdul Aziz al-Hakim headed the supreme Islamic Council and was a top member of the US-appointed Governing Council in Iraq. The head of one of its most prominent Shiite religious dynasties al-Hakim was a towering figure in the post-US invasion political landscape. A good listener and proven negotiator, he led a coalition of parties to victory in Iraq's 2005 elections while juggling his close friendships with both Washington and Tehran. The Supreme Islamic Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri) of which al-Hakim was its head was founded in Iran, in the 1982, to oppose the regime of Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Prior to that al-Hakim was imprisoned three times in Iraq before he fled to Iran in 1980. He spent more than two decades living in exile in Iran. He led a Sciri delegation to Washington in 2002 for talks with Administration officials. The quite and soft-spoken Abdul Aziz al-Hakim played the role of behind-the-scenes kingmaker in the attempts to form a unified and stable Iraq. A heavy smoker, he was initially treated in Houston in the US before further lengthy treatment in Tehran where he passed away. He was buried in Najaf where he was born.