Iraq’s New Government Is a Temporary Truce, Not a Strategic Settlement

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  Baghdad’s latest cabinet formation reveals a state still trapped between militia power, oil dependency, Kurdish fragmentation, and the geopolitical collision between Washington and Tehran. By Dr. Pshtiwan Faraj | Sulaimani, Iraq | 13 May 2026 — Kurdish Policy Analysis After six months of political paralysis, Iraq finally has a government. Yet the formation of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s cabinet may say less about political stabilization than about the inability of Iraq’s competing factions to sustain prolonged deadlock. The parliamentary approval of Zaidi’s government this week ended one of the country’s longest post-election crises in recent years. But the structure of the new cabinet — incomplete, contested, and heavily shaped by factional bargaining — reveals an Iraqi state still fundamentally unable to resolve its core strategic contradictions. The most important fact about Iraq’s new government is not that it was formed. It is that it emerged without resolving the dis...
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Sadiqoon accuses US of blocking dollar transfers to pressure Baghdad


MP says Washington is exerting financial pressure on Baghdad amid political talks over next prime minister as reports claim $500 million in oil revenues were blocked.

SULAIMANI,IRAQ, April 22 (Kurdish Policy Analysis) – An Iraqi lawmaker from the Sadiqoon Bloc on Wednesday accused the United States of pressuring Iraq through the obstruction of dollar transfers, warning the move could disrupt salary payments for public employees and retirees.

MP Habib al-Halawi told Shafaq News that Washington has applied “direct and indirect pressure” on successive Iraqi governments since 2003, without achieving its stated objectives.

He linked the alleged financial restrictions to ongoing political negotiations in Baghdad, suggesting they are intended to influence the Shiite Coordination Framework, the largest parliamentary bloc, in its efforts to select the next prime minister.

The bloc includes several influential factions, among them Asaib Ahl al-Haq, which is designated under U.S. sanctions.

Al-Halawi said Iraq’s parliament is preparing legislation aimed at safeguarding what he described as national sovereignty, adding that legal advisers are drafting measures to counter foreign interference in financial and political affairs.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States had blocked the transfer of approximately $500 million in Iraqi oil revenues to Baghdad. The report cited U.S. concerns over what it described as Iraq’s “slow progress” in curbing Iran-aligned armed factions operating within the country.

Neither the U.S. Treasury Department nor Iraqi financial authorities immediately commented on the reported suspension of funds.

The dispute comes amid continued tensions between Baghdad and Washington over the presence and influence of armed groups aligned with Iran, as well as Iraq’s reliance on dollar access through U.S.-linked financial channels.

#Iraq #USA #DollarTransfers #Baghdad #Sanctions #OilRevenue #MiddleEastPolitics #Iran #Economy

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