Can Iraq’s New Prime Minister Thread the US-Iran Needle?

Excerpt

The question of what to do about Iran-backed militias in Iraq threatens to derail the new government of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi before it has time to get its feet under it.

Zaidi squeaked a partial cabinet through parliament on May 14, six months after the country’s parliamentary elections, with 14 of the 23 cabinet ministers approved and the remaining ministries operating under acting heads until a candidate is approved by parliament. Officially, the new prime minister’s next challenge is filling the nine empty ministerial seats, which he and his supporters hope to accomplish by mid-June. 

However, Zaidi has a more urgent problem that will set the stage for his government’s success and, ultimately, Iraq’s political stability. Iran-backed Iraqi militias and US, Iraqi, and Iranian officials are pushing for the new government to address the issue of disarming militias first. And unfortunately for the new prime minister, the interested parties are seeking vastly different outcomes.

After months of political haggling, the Coordination Framework, the dominant Shia parliamentary bloc closely aligned with Tehran, nominated Zaidi, a businessman with no political experience, for the top job on April 27. He quickly received the blessings of both Tehran and Washington, but ongoing support from the two capitals may hinge on how he navigates their competing interests. 

Bridget Toomey is a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), focusing on Iranian proxies, specifically Iraqi militias and the Houthis.