Iran’s State-Censored Media Reacts to Maliki’s Return to Power in Iraq

Islamic Dawa Party Chair Nuri al-Maliki seems set to return to office as Iraq’s prime minister, and Iranian analysts are weighing in on how Baghdad is likely to navigate its relationships with Iran and the United States. While technocratic media outlets discussed the general decline in Iran’s influence in Iraq, media outlets affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps hailed the return of “the anti-American prime minister.”

• January 26: Ardeshir Pashang, a journalist and Iraq expert, wrote about Nuri al-Maliki’s likely return in economic newspaper Donya-ye Eqtesad:
  • “There was a time when Iraq’s central government was struggling to survive or consolidate its authority. That time has passed, and Iraq is now seeking to play a regional role.”
  • “Maliki will reduce tensions with Iran and the United States … and the United States, too, has a more realistic view of Iraq today. Over the past few months, the United States’ red line regarding Iraq was that members of the Popular Mobilization Forces or their affiliates should not hold any ministerial posts … This demand was moderated and clarified to specify that Popular Mobilization Forces members should not assume sensitive security positions, such as the ministries of interior and defense. Therefore, it appears that a kind of relative understanding has been reached between Baghdad and Washington, under which both the new Iraqi prime minister and the Shia ruling establishment are trying to avoid creating unnecessary tensions during Donald Trump’s presidency.”
  • “In the meantime, however, we must see what fate Iran’s role in Iraq has met. Despite the fact that figures close to the Islamic Republic wield greater power in the Iraqi Parliament, Iran’s influence in Iraq is declining, and the extent of Iran’s leverage and room to maneuver in the country has become far more limited than in the past. Moreover, under these circumstances, Iran does not want to take any action in its foreign policy that would distance it from Iraq.”
• January 26: Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-affiliated Javan hailed the return of the “anti-American prime minister.”

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