With the approval of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, for the nomination of Nouri al-Maliki, a senior figure in Iraq’s SCF, to assume the post of prime minister for a third term, questions have intensified over how the United States might respond to this.

As Iraq weighs a new prime minister, attention has shifted to the Shiite Coordination Framework, where Ali al-Shukry is emerging as a leading compromise candidate for the top post.

Over three consecutive meetings, Iraq’s National Sunni Political Council has failed to agree on a single candidate for the post of parliament speaker, the highest office representing the Sunni bloc under the country’s political norms since 2003.

U.S. officials are pressuring Iraq’s Coordination Framework to form a government free of armed factions and strengthen state institutions amid regional stakes.