
Majority-Shiite Iraq has been paralysed by political gridlock for nearly a year. Tensions are mounting between two powerful Shiite factions: one loyal to nationalist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, on the one hand, and an alliance of pro-Iran interests led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on the other. FRANCE 24 looks at the various players jostling for power.
Unable to agree on forming a new government and appointing a new prime minister, two very different manifestations of political Shiism have been locked in a bitter impasse ever since Iraq’s parliamentary elections in October 2021.