PM Al-Zaidi weighs US approval for security nominees ahead of post-Eid cabinet push

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is considering seeking preliminary approval from Washington for some of his proposed cabinet nominees through a six-month performance review mechanism, a move aimed at reassuring the United States while accommodating powerful Shiite factions pressing to secure their ministerial shares, a political source told Shafaq News on Saturday.

The arrangement would allow Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the Iran-aligned armed faction and political movement led by Qais al-Khazali, to put forward candidates for key portfolios, including a potential deputy prime minister post that could go to Laith al-Khazali, according to the source.

Multiple diplomatic sources told our agency that US officials have privately warned Iraqi leaders that including commanders from Iran-linked armed groups in the next government could trigger sanctions targeting the Iraqi state itself, including oil revenues.

The State of Law Coalition (SLC), led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is separately reviewing profiles of senior security and military figures as it works to nominate a second candidate for the Interior Ministry alongside Qasim Atta. A parallel vetting process is underway within Asaib Ahl al-Haq ahead of a formal list of nominees expected to be submitted after the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Iraq's parliament this week approved al-Zaidi's government and its ministerial program, granting confidence to 14 ministers while deferring votes on nine remaining ministries until after the holiday following objections to several nominees, leaving the cabinet incomplete at a politically sensitive moment.

Read more: Ali Al-Zaidi sworn in as Iraq's prime minister with a program already failed