Iraq’s president on Monday named a businessman as prime minister-designate and gave him the task of forming a new government after a monthslong delay in selecting a candidate amid conflicting pressures from Iran and the United States.
In a statement announcing the selection of Ali al-Zaidi, President Nizar Amedi said the constitutional process “could not tolerate further delay.” Mr. al-Zaidi was put forward for the role earlier in the day by the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Iraqi Shiite political parties.
“We call on all political forces to support him and cooperate with him to expedite the completion of this constitutional and national process in a way that serves Iraq and its people,” Mr. Amedi said.
Mr. al-Zaidi’s selection came after months of simmering tensions over the formation of a new government in Iraq, which has been a matter of interest to both Iran and the United States. Iraq maintains close ties to both countries and has often found itself caught between them, all the more so in recent months.
In Iraq’s elections in November, the country’s most powerful Shiite political bloc won a majority of votes and nominated Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a former prime minister, to lead the Parliament.
In January, President Trump threatened to withdraw U.S. support for Iraq if Mr. al-Maliki returned as the prime minister. He was first elected prime minister in 2006 — at the time with U.S. backing — but came to be seen as increasingly aligned with Iran over his two four-year terms. In response, Mr. al-Maliki said in a social media post that Iraqis “categorically reject this blatant American interference.”
The pressure on Iraqi officials to pick a side increased after the American-Israeli attack on Iran in late February prompted retaliatory Iranian strikes across the Persian Gulf. Iranian-aligned militias in Iraq joined the fray, drawing the ire of the United States.
Last week, Hussein Allawi, a security adviser to Iraq’s current prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, told The New York Times that the United States had suspended support for Iraq’s security services until a new government was formed. An Iraqi Defense Ministry official said U.S. cooperation and funding had been halted until further notice because of recent attacks on U.S. interests in Iraq by the Iranian-backed militias.
The United States has also suspended air shipments of dollars to Iraq, according to two senior Iraqi officials, withholding money that Iraq had earned from its own oil sales. The suspension was part of the campaign to force the Baghdad government to distance itself from Iran.
Mr. al-Maliki withdrew his candidacy for the role of prime minister, as did Mr. al-Sudani, according to a statement from the Coordination Framework, which commended their “responsible and historic stances” on Monday.
“This step underscores their commitment to the supreme national interests, facilitates overcoming the political deadlock, and allows the Coordination Framework to select a candidate who meets the required qualifications for the position of prime minister and is suited to the demands and challenges of this stage,” the group said.
Mr. al-Zaidi is a businessman with interests in finance and media and no public political life, according to Iraqi news media. In a statement after he was selected, he pledged to work with all parties to form a government that met the people’s needs, Iraqi state media reported.
He now has 30 days to form a cabinet and present it for parliamentary approval.
Raja Abdulrahim and Erika Solomon contributed reporting.