The U.S. State Department said in a statement to Alhurra that Washington is closely monitoring the process of forming the Iraqi government and is engaged in ongoing consultations with senior Iraqi leaders on the matter.
In response to questions sent by Alhurra via email regarding the possibility of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki returning to head the government, a State Department spokesperson said that consultations with Iraqi leaders are continuing as part of the process of forming a new government in Iraq.
The spokesperson did not mention Maliki by name when commenting on Alhurra’s question about the impact of his potential return on Iraqi-U.S. relations. However, the spokesperson expressed the hope that, under the leadership of President Donald Trump, the process would lead to outcomes that support Iraq’s stability and serve the shared interests of both countries.
Over the past week, Maliki’s name has emerged as the sole candidate for the position of prime minister in Iraq, following the withdrawal of his primary rival, current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
After the announcement of the results of the 2025 elections in November—where Sudani’s coalition won first place with 46 seats out of the parliament’s total of 329 seats, and Maliki’s State of Law coalition secured 29 seats—both men put forward their names as candidates for the premiership.
Maliki and Sudani are members of the Coordination Framework, an umbrella grouping that includes most of the Shiite factions that won seats in the elections—including political wings that possess armed militias loyal to Tehran—with a combined total of around 180 seats. It was the Coordination Framework that brought Sudani to power in 2022.
The Coordination Framework was expected to officially announce Maliki’s nomination last Monday, but internal disagreements prevented this from happening, according to a political source who spoke to Alhurra.
The source, who requested anonymity, said that two factions within the Coordination Framework oppose Maliki’s return to power, and that Maliki is currently trying to persuade them to reverse their position.
Maliki served two terms as prime minister between 2006 and 2014. His critics say his time in office was marked by the consolidation of power, a deterioration of trust among Iraq’s social components, and a decline in relations between Baghdad and Washington. He is also blamed for the security collapse that paved the way for the rise of ISIS.
Despite these criticisms, Maliki—known for his political acumen—managed to reassert himself on the political scene in subsequent years by quietly building influence through his relationships with armed militias loyal to Tehran, as well as by maintaining extensive leverage within state institutions that he was able to establish during his two terms in office.
Commenting on the type of relationship the United States seeks with Iraq, a State Department spokesperson said that Washington, under President Trump’s leadership, aims to build a U.S.–Iraq relationship that aligns with American interests. More importantly, Iraqi leaders must recognize that involving Iranian-aligned terrorist militias in the Iraqi government, in any form, is incompatible with establishing a strong partnership between the United States and Iraq.
The spokesperson added that “the United States has consistently emphasized the need to dismantle armed groups that pledge allegiance to a foreign agenda, because doing so undermines Iraqi sovereignty, weakens Iraq, endangers Iraqis and Americans, and drags Iraq into regional conflicts.”
Armed groups linked to Iran are considered one of the most sensitive issues to which the United States has attached clear importance during the Trump administration, with U.S. officials repeatedly warning that these factions pose a threat to Iraq’s stability and to American interests in the region.
Washington has continued to pressure Baghdad to restrain these militias from targeting U.S. bases or interests and to prevent the use of state resources to advance external influence—a reference to Iran.
This article is a translation of the original Arabic.
Ghassan Taqi
A journalist specializing in Iraqi affairs, he has worked with the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) since 2015. He previously spent several years with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as well as various Iraqi and Arab media outlets.
