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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US naval blockade of Iran takes effect as Trump’s deadline passes

Maritime restrictions hit Iranian ports across key waterways, while Washington says Hormuz transit will remain open

Kurdish Policy Analysis / SULAIMANI, IRAQ

The American military naval blockade of Iran has taken effect after the deadline set by US President Donald Trump passed.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announces that it has been informed that “maritime access restrictions are being enforced affecting Iranian ports and coastal areas, including locations along the Arabian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Arabian Sea east of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Yesterday, the US Central Command said its forces “will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 a.m. ET, in accordance with the President’s proclamation.”

“The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman,” CENTCOM said.

CENTCOM added that its forces “will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.”

#Iran #USNavy #Trump #Hormuz #MiddleEast #Geopolitics #BreakingNews #MaritimeSecurity


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