The Islamic Dawa Party is a Shia Muslim social conservative political party in Iraq that was founded in 1958 by Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr. The party had its roots in the Shia interests movement, which had been around since at least 1936, when it held 30% of the electorate's vote in politics. al-Sadr formed the party in response to the persecution of Shi'ite religious institutions in Najaf by the Iraqi Ba'ath Party, and the party held the beliefs that the legislative authority had to adhere to sharia law while entrusting the people with legislative and executive powers.
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein persecuted the party, beginning with the execution of 75 al-Dawa members in 1974; Sadr was executed in 1980 for plotting to assassinate Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. The party was responsible for a suicide bombing that targeted the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, Lebanon on 15 December 1981, the first Shia Muslim suicide bombing; it was carried out by its Shahid al-Sadr armed wing. On 12 December 1983, the Dawa Party targeted foreign institution in Kuwait with a series of bombings, and it attempted to assassinate Saddam several times. In 2003, it returned to politics after the United States invaded Iraq and overthrew the Ba'athist regime, and the party became the most important party in the sectarian Shia government of Iraq in the following years, persecuting the Sunni minority and acting as a protector of Iran's interests in Iraq.