Page 22 - Coordination Framework News Today

The US has the cudgel of the American dollar to prevent its expulsion from Iraq, but will the Biden administration use it?

An attack by the IRGC on the house of a Kurdish businessman in Erbil raised questions among the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Masoud Barzani, about Iran’s message and purpose. The bombing, which Iran said was aimed at “eliminating a target” who was “spying for Israel,” is interpreted differently by allied and competing forces in Iraq. But the context links Iran’s ballistic missiles to a “multi-purpose message.”

Iran’s relentless pressure on the US, via Arab proxies across the Middle East, has been mounting for some time, but intensified since the 7 October war in Gaza and may escalate after the latest attack on the Houthis in Yemen. While the Houthis have been firing drones and missiles at ships and installations of US-allies, the Iraqi pro-Iranian armed groups, known as Fasail Al-Muqawama Al-Islamiya, have launched more than 120 attacks directly at US forces in both Iraq and Syria.

U.S. officials ritualistically tout their respect for Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, but every U.S. president over the last three decades has bombed Iraq in some way.

Iraq’s prime minister called for an end to US presence after a drone strike killed a senior militia leader.

Calls are growing in Iraq for the withdrawal of the international anti-ISIS coalition and US forces deployed in the country following the US killing on Thursday of a militia leader Washington blames for attacks on American troops. The US strike in Baghdad targeted Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, the Pentagon said, adding he was a leader of Harakat al-Nujaba who was involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel in Iraq and Syria.

By John Lee. Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) has announced the results of the local elections held in Iraq on December 18th: Voter turnout: 41%, higher than the 2021 parliamentary elections despite a boycott by influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Shia dominance: The Shia Coordination Framework (CF), an alliance of Iran-aligned groups, emerged as the

December's provincial elections across Iraq saw big gains for the ruling Coordination Framework and for the Sunni minority and Muhammad al-Halbousi list.

Last week, Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian representative to the United Nations, had the opportunity to deliver a statement that gave him the moral high ground. He sharply criticized Washington's opposition to a permanent ceasefire in the war to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip. Personally, I believe that the general mood in the Arab world was sympathetic to the Russian representative’s speech denouncing the US’s insistence on hollowing out the UNSC Resolution and Washington's...

BAGHDAD — Iraqis voted on Monday in the first provincial council elections held in a decade, which were expected to strengthen the dominance of Shiite groups.The vote comes at a time of widespread political apathy and disillusionment in the oil-rich country of 43 million that is still recovering from years of war.Polls closed as planned at 6:00 pm (15:00 GMT), state media