Trump warns against Nouri al-Maliki’s return as prime minister of Iraq
By Mohammed Tawfeeq, Nadeen Ebrahim, CNN
(CNN) — US President Donald Trump has warned Iraq over a reinstatement of Nouri al-Maliki as prime minister, saying that the country “descended into poverty and total chaos” under his previous leadership.
“That should not be allowed to happen again” Trump wrote on social media Tuesday. “Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq. If we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of success, prosperity, or freedom. MAKE IRAQ GREAT AGAIN!”
Al-Maliki, leader of the Iran-aligned Islamic Dawa Party, previously served two consecutive terms as Iraq’s prime minister between 2006 and 2014.
Al-Maliki dismissed Trump’s threat as “blatant American interference in Iraq’s internal affairs,” and vowed to “continue to work until we reach the end.”
Trump’s post signals “potential sharp US action” if al-Maliki is given the post,” said Renad Mansour, director of the Iraq Initiative at London’s Chatham House think tank, adding the US is trying to “curb Iran’s influence in Iraq, especially as they see Iranian-allied factions with armed militias vie for power.”
Trump’s warning and al-Maliki’s rebuttal come as the US builds up military assets in the Middle East, raising fears of an American-Iranian confrontation that could plunge the region into crisis.
Who is Nouri al-Maliki?
Born in 1950, al-Maliki joined the Iran-backed Dawa Party in 1968 and later fled Iraq in 1979-1980 after being sentenced to death for opposing Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime. He returned to Iraq in 2003 following the US-led invasion which toppled Saddam but plunged the country into years of devastating turmoil and violent insurgency.
During al-Maliki’s administration, particularly in late 2013 and the first half of 2014, the Islamic State (ISIS) seized several major Iraqi cities and large swaths of territory. This prompted the government to form Shia-led paramilitary forces to counter the Sunni extremists. The United States has long opposed these armed groups and called for their disarmament.
He was nominated by the Shia Coordination Framework —which holds a parliamentary majority — to serve again as Iraq’s 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. Shia Muslims make up the majority of Iraq’s population.
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.
Sajad Jiyad, a Baghdad-based fellow at Century International, said obstacles remain to al-Maliki’s aspirations to run the country again, especially after Trump’s open opposition, but he may proceed nonetheless.
Al-Maliki was supported by the US when he first came to power in 2006. Relations soured during his second term that started in 2010 as he failed to prevent the rise of sectarianism and grew closer to Iran.
“In his second term, the US saw that his politics were being increasingly sectarian, especially against the Sunni Muslims in Iraq, which led to the rise of ISIS in 2014,” Mansour said.
Al-Maliki stepped down in 2014 as ISIS seized large swathes of the country but remained a powerful political figure and later aligned more closely to Iran-backed factions in Iraq.
In December, Trump’s special envoy to Iraq, Mark Savaya, warned Iraqi politicians to rein in non-state armed groups, cautioning that failure could push Iraq toward “fragmentation and decline” more than two decades after Saddam Hussein was toppled.
He also warned that the decisions made by Iraqi leaders in the coming period “will determine whether Iraq advances toward sovereignty and strength or slips back into fragmentation and decline.”
Iraq has been walking a tightrope between Washington and Tehran for several years. While Iran maintains influence over a number of powerful parties, some of which are heavily armed, the US still has leverage, especially over Iraq’s economy.
Since its 2003 invasion, Iraq’s oil export revenues have been deposited into an account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, giving Washington substantial oversight and the power to freeze the funds it needed.
“The threats against Iraq are real,” Jiyad said. “The US is increasing the pressure because it wants Baghdad to be more aligned with it.”
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