WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump has threatened to end Washington’s support for Iraq if former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is reinstated as the country’s next head of government. Trump said on Tuesday that Iraq would be making a “very bad choice” with al-Maliki, who was nominated by the largest Shiite bloc in parliament as its candidate for prime minister citing his “political and administrative experience and role in managing the state.”Iraq held nationwide elections in November for 329 seats in parliament. Shiite alliances won 187 seats.Iraq’s president, Abdul Latif Rashid, congratulated al-Maliki on his nomination in a statement on Sunday and expressed hope that his leadership would strengthen political stability, national partnership, and Iraq’s development, while meeting the aspirations of the Iraqi people for security and services.Al-Maliki, leader of the Islamic Dawa Party, previously served two consecutive terms as Iraq’s prime minister from 2006 to 2014.“Last time Maliki was in power, the country descended into poverty and total chaos. That should not be allowed to happen again,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.“Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq,” he said.“If we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom. MAKE IRAQ GREAT AGAIN!”Trump’s comments are the starkest example yet of the Republican president’s campaign to curb Iran-linked groups’ influence in Iraq, which has long walked a tightrope between its two closest allies, Washington and Tehran.In a letter, US representatives said that while the selection of the prime minister is an Iraqi decision, “the United States will make its own sovereign decisions regarding the next government in line with American interests”.As part of Trump’s pressure campaign, Washington has also threatened senior Iraqi politicians with sanctions on the country should armed groups backed by Iran be included in the next government, the Reuters news agency reported last week.Al-Maliki, 75, is a senior figure in the Shitte Islamist Dawa Party. His tenure as prime minister from 2006 to 2014 was a period marked by a power struggle with Sunni and Kurdish rivals and growing tensions with the US.He stepped down after the Islamic State seized large parts of the country in 2014, but has remained an influential political player, leading the State of Law coalition and maintaining close ties with Iran-backed factions.The US wields key leverage over Iraq, as the country’s oil export revenue is largely held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York in an arrangement reached after the 2003 US invasion that toppled Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. — Agencies
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