During his time in al-Qaim, al-Modarresi taught distinguished Saudi activist Nimr al-Nimr and was considered as his mentor. He had a close relationship with him even after the closure of the seminary, until his execution in 2016.[11][12] In al-Qaim, he also taught Sayyid Rasheed al-Husayni, a representative of grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali al-Sistani, who appears on Iraqi state television and delivers the fatwas of al-Sistani.