Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of one of the most powerful Shia Muslim parties in Iraq, has died Wednesday.

Al-Hakim died in Tehran, Iran, and his body will be sent to Iraq to be buried in Najaf, said Haitham al-Husseini, a senior official with al-Hakim's office and one of al-Hakim's advisers, as cited by the CNN.

Al-Hakim had been suffering from cancer and had been receiving treatment in hospital in the Iranian capital Tehran.

He did not hold any government post in Iraq's elected Shia-led government since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, but was an important power broker.

Al-Hakim headed the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, which once was arguably Iraq's most powerful Shiite political party. It lost much of its influence recently, notably in last January's elections, when politicians allied with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki won control of most of Iraq's provincial councils.

After his condition was made public in 2007, al-Hakim spent most of his time being treated in Iran. He had been grooming his son Ammar al-Hakim to take over.

Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim spent years in Iran as an exile, but returned to Iraq in 2003 following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. He had been an ally of both the United States and Iran.

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