As tensions simmer between U.S. and Iran, Iraq is feeling the heat
CBC
Of the many proxy battlegrounds between Iran and the United States in the Middle East, Iraq is one of the most overlooked, at least outside the region.
But U.S. reaction to the reappearance on the political scene of former Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki — a candidate for the job once more — is a sharp reminder of the tightrope Iraq walks between the two.
The 75-year-old politician’s candidacy has become a lightning rod as the U.S. steps up efforts to reduce Iranian influence in Iraq.
“Last time Maliki was in power, the Country descended into poverty and total chaos,” U.S. President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social last month, after the Co-ordination Framework (CF), the main Shia bloc in Iraq’s Parliament, nominated al-Maliki.
“Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq,” wrote Trump. “And, if we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom.”
Al-Maliki responded in a post of his own, rejecting what he called “blatant American interference” in Iraq’s internal affairs.
Trump has been threatening military action against Iran since early January — ordering a U.S. naval strike force to the region — initially over the killing of protesters in large anti-government demonstrations. He has since moved on to Iran’s nuclear capabilities, its ballistic missile stockpiles and its support of regional militias.
In nominating a-Malaki for prime minister, the Co-ordination Framework praised his “political and administrative experience.”
Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq Initiative at the U.K.’s Chatham House think-tank, says the re-emergence of al-Maliki as a contender reflects an enduring Iranian influence in Iraq.
“Since leaving office, al-Maliki has kept close relations with Iran,” Mansour wrote in a recent Chatham House publication. “Among his acts as prime minister in 2014 was the formalization of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella organization of armed groups.”
Critics say it opened a door that has allowed militias or non-state actors to infiltrate and influence the Iraqi political landscape.
Some of those groups are already in Washington’s crosshairs — especially now, as it has expanded its list of negotiating demands for Iran beyond the nuclear file to include an end to support for proxy militias across the Middle East.
“Some of these militias [now have political arms and] have participated in elections,” said Iraqi Kurdish politician Hoshyar Zebari, a former Iraqi foreign minister, finance minister and deputy prime minister, in an interview with CBC News at his home in Pirman, in northern Iraq.
“Now, in the Iraqi new Parliament they have over 70 seats, maybe more,” he said.
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