Iraqi President Barham Salih announced his readiness to put his resignation in front of parliament for his reservations on the nomination of the current governor of Basra, Asaad Al-Eidani, for the position of Prime Minister. Salih said in an official statement addressed to Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi that he was adhering to the articles of the constitution in appointing the candidate of the most numerous parliamentary bloc.
He pointed out that in light of the requirements imposed by the protest movement, it is imperative to consider the supreme national interest before personal and political considerations. He added that he could not assign Al-Eidani to head and form the next government, taking into account the responsibility of the President of the Republic towards his people as he put it. This position of the President of the Republic can be read from several angles :
The first: the persistence of conflicting visions between Barham Salih, the President of the Republic of Iraq, and the parliamentary bloc that pushes for the nomination of a certain personality for the position of Prime Minister, a figure rejected by the Iraqi people. And here is the president who is the patron in response to the parish’s voice.
Second: The threat of resignation or the threat of it by Barham Salih to accept the assignment of Asaad Al-Eidani, this indicates that the President of the Republic built this political position, based on a deep understanding of what is happening from the mass protest movement in Iraq, the president with this refusal biased to the demands of the Iraqi people, which is National position par excellence, and this position will be recorded in history for Barham Salih, President of the Republic of Iraq, who refused to listen to Iran regarding the process of choosing the Prime Minister.
Third: That Iran and its allies’ insistence from the political, security, and parliamentarian community in Iraq to nominate a political figure rejected by the Iraqi people means either that Iran and its allies in Iraq completely ignore the demands of the Iraqi people, or that they also completely deny the overwhelming protest scene that Iraq has witnessed since Last October, it was because Iran and its allies ruled Iraq. They are seeking to get rid of the dark tunnel that Iraq entered it and did not leave it until now. The question that arises in this context: Will Iran and its allies continue to stand in their “right” to choose the personality of the Prime Minister, or will the internal, regional and international circumstances push it to retreat from that?
It is not easy for the Iranian political system to give up its influence and impact that it built in Iraq in the post-2003 period. The matter is very difficult based on the material data in Iraq, but we say if pressures are imposed on it that force it to back away from it, without preserving its interests in Iraq, they may take it through its allies to a catastrophic scene – no one , who is keen for the interests of Iraq and his people , wants it because Iran is aware of any loss of its position in Iraq that may open the way for many geopolitical losses in the Arab Mashreq, will Iran accept this, or will it go to brinkmanship in Iraq?
In sum, that the political system in Iran in order not to lose Iraq, may resort to actions no less ugly than the actions of Hulagu, but the Iranian political, military and security decision-maker must realize that all the invaders of Iraq have ceased to exist and Iraq remains lofty , and how does it not rise ?! It is the origin of the authentic human civilization. Did the sons of this civilization from its Arabs and Kurds fail to rule themselves without waiting orders from Tehran !!
Iraqi Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies