Iraq is now due to choose a prime minister, a closely-watched and sensitive pick.
US President Donald Trump threatened in January to withdraw Washington’s support for Iraq, a major oil producer, if former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was designated to form a cabinet.An alliance of Shi’ite political blocs holding a parliamentary majority has nominated Iran-backed Maliki, alarming Washington, which along with Israel waged a six-week war with Iran until a ceasefire was announced on Tuesday.
Senior US and Iranian officials were meeting in Islamabad on Saturday in the highest-level talks between Washington and Tehran in half a century in an effort to end the war.
In Iraq, which has long trodden a tightrope between Iran and the US, its closest allies, the prime minister wields significant power.
Under Iraq’s sectarian power-sharing system, the prime minister must be a Shi’ite Muslim, the parliamentary speaker a Sunni Muslim, and the president a Kurd.
