In a move that sent political shockwaves through Iraq, the Official Gazette published a decision listing Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthi group as terrorist organizations, a step the Iraqi central bank later walked back, calling it an “unintentional mistake.”

Lebanon’s Shia community is caught between Iraq’s Najaf and Iran’s Qom, as al-Sistani warns against Iranian influence and Hezbollah’s armed role amid regional power struggles.

All Sunni parties that won seats in the Iraqi election announced the formation of the National Political Council, positioning it as a unified umbrella similar to the Shiite Coordination Framework.

Iraq’s Shiite political forces have signed an agreement to form the largest parliamentary bloc after the Reconstruction and Development Coalition led by Mohammed Shia’ al Sudani joined the Coordination Framework.

In an unprecedented turn since the post-2003 era that followed the U.S. invasion, Iraq’s civil movement has been reduced to a single seat in parliament after its electoral lists suffered a major setback in the November 11, 2025, vote.