Since at formation of the Iraq state in the twenties Hawza reacted against it in a series of hostile fatwas, forbidding Shiites to join public [government] schools or start a career in the governmental offices.

Of course in the 1920s the Iraqi government was dominated by British imperialism. After 1968 the government was Baathist, i.e., nationalist. The Baath were consistent modernizers. Your account of the al-Khumus system implies that clerical resistance to the Baath still rested on the preservation of the feudal privileges of the clergy.