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Iran abandons its ally in Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki

August 13, 2014 at 2:21 pm

The Islamic Republic of Iran has declared its support for the “legal process” that has brought about the nomination of Haidar al-Abadi to succeed Nouri al-Maliki as Iraqi prime minister.

Al-Maliki had been a prominent ally for Tehran who supported him in the war against the Sunni rebels and the Islamic State (ISIS).

Tehran called upon Iraqis to “maintain unity.” This was described as a surprising development in Iranian politics and is expected to have consequences in the internal political arena.

Iranian TV, Al-Alam, reported the Supreme Secretary of the Iranian National Security Council, Ali Shamakhani, saying that Tehran “supports the legal process that led to the nomination of the new prime minister in Iraq.”

Shamakhani called upon all Iraqi sects and factions to unite in order to “maintain the national reconciliation and the sovereignty of law in the face of external threats”.

Iran has an old alliance with Al-Maliki that dates several years back. Analysts have said that Al-Maliki has a strong relationship with the commander of Al-Quds Brigade in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Qasim Sulamani. That alliance was built on the basis of Al-Maliki remaining prime minister in return for his commitment to remain an ally of Iran and working to push the Americans out of Iraq.