Iraq's alliance of Shi'ite political blocs, the Coordination Framework, reaffirmed on Saturday its support for former premier Nouri al-Maliki to lead the next government, despite a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that Washington would no longer help Iraq if Maliki returned to power.
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki walks at a polling station inside Al-Rasheed Hotel during the parliamentary election in Baghdad, Iraq, November 11, 2025. Reuters/Thaier Al-Sudani
Iraq's alliance of Shi'ite political blocs, the Coordination Framework, reaffirmed on Saturday its support for former premier Nouri al-Maliki to lead the next government, despite a warning from U.S. President Donald Trump that Washington would no longer help Iraq if Maliki returned to power.
The bloc, which holds a majority in parliament, picked Maliki, Iraq's first elected prime minister after a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, as its nominee for the post following an election.
"The choice of the prime minister is a purely Iraqi constitutional matter and should proceed without foreign interference," the Coordination Framework said in a statement, adding that it seeks balanced relations with international partners based on mutual respect.
Trump's threats 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.
Reporting by Muayad Hameed
Apparent U.S.-Israeli airstrikes hit a headquarters of Iraq's umbrella group for Iran-backed Shi'ite militia and a residence belonging to its leader on Tuesday, an escalation of U.S.-Israeli strikes on one of Tehran's main regional allies.
Iran launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel on Tuesday, the Israeli military said, after U.S. President Donald Trump postponed the bombing of the Islamic Republic's power plants and other energy infrastructure because of what he described as productive talks with Iranian officials.
An Israeli precision strike hit a residential apartment building in Hazmieh - a predominantly Christian neighborhood east of Beirut - Monday afternoon, killing at least one person in what the IDF described as a targeted hit on a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' elite Al-Quds Force.
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