cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/24372

The US seeks to weaken Iranian influence in Iraq amid its efforts to promote regime change in Iran

Iraq’s Shia political bloc reiterated its support on 1 February for nominating Nouri al-Maliki as the next prime minister, following threats from US President Donald Trump warning against Maliki’s return to power.

The Coordination Framework issued a statement on Saturday affirming “its support for its nominee, Nouri Kamel al-Maliki, for the premiership.”

“Choosing the prime minister is an exclusively Iraqi constitutional matter … free from foreign interference,” the statement added.

Maliki served as prime minister from 2006 to 2014, when US president Barack Obama insisted he step down amid a US-backed ISIS invasion of the country.

The US and its closest Iraqi ally, Kurdish politician Masoud Barzani, covertly helped ISIS conquer Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, as well as the district of Sinjar, where the terror group carried out a genocide of the Yezidis religious minority. US officials then blamed the rise of ISIS on Maliki’s “sectarian policies.”

Earlier this week, Trump called Maliki a “very bad choice” for Iraq, arguing that his previous leadership was defined by “poverty and total chaos.”

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