2025-10-27T22:41:37+00:00
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Shafaq News – Baghdad
Ahead of Iraq’s November 11
elections, candidates face a delicate balance: any perceived sympathy toward
Israel can end a campaign, while taking distance from Iran has become a sign of
political independence.
According to the Foundation for
Defense of Democracies (FDD), the vote for 329 parliamentary seats — Iraq’s
seventh since 2003 — comes as the country seeks to assert sovereignty between
competing regional powers. Figures once tied to armed groups are now running on
political lists, trading weapons for ballots in a nation still struggling to
translate oil wealth into stable governance.
A 2022 law bans any support for
normalization with Israel, carrying penalties of up to life imprisonment.
Despite the absence of formal ties, accusations of pro-Israel leanings remain
politically fatal.
Lawmaker Ibrahim al-Sumaidaie
recently accused rivals of “courting Washington” and warned that the United
States may pressure Iraq to join the Abraham Accords. Former Prime Minister
Ayad Allawi dismissed similar claims, reiterating his opposition to normalization.
Meanwhile, more politicians are
publicly distancing themselves from Tehran. Former Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki, once one of Tehran’s strongest allies, now stresses national
independence as Shia factions fragment.
This shift follows Israel’s
post-2023 military strikes that weakened Iran’s regional proxies and altered
the political balance across the Middle East, the report claimed.
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