Is it now too hot in Iraq for Moktada al-Sadr?

According to the New York Time's sources, Sadr is in Iran. Now did he flee because things are getting too hot in Iraq? Or was this just a routine visit?

This being the Middle East, there is always a third possiblity: That this is just a publicity stunt cooked up by the Americans, as one of his aides said in an interview on Al Arabiya.

“This is an American lie that aims to get information about the whereabouts of Sadr in any way possible,” Abdul Razzaq al-Nadawi, identified as one of the cleric's top aides, was reported as saying. “Through this they can accomplish two things: the first is that either Sadr shows up on TV and announces that he is here, and in this case they can make sure that he is in Najaf, Iraq. If he doesn’t show up they will also have achieved something, by depicting Sadr as a coward who fled to Iran fearing for his life.”

In any case, now that the borders with Iran and Syria are supposedly closed, let's hope this means we won't see him back in Iraq any time soon.