Iraq in April 2026: the most important developments in politics
In April 2026, Iraq's politics turned on the choice of new national leaders. On 11 April parliament elected Nizar Amedi as president, the month's most widely reported story. On 28 April Iraq named little-known banker Ali al-Zaidi as prime minister, ending a five-month political deadlock that followed intense negotiations among Shia factions. Al-Zaidi faces the tasks of economic reform and keeping the country stable. Before the nomination, Iraqi politics faced a vacuum as the deadline for naming a prime minister approached, and on 20 April an Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said the choice of prime minister was an internal Iraqi matter in which criminals must not interfere.
Iraq's relations with its neighbours and with Washington were strained. Kuwait condemned the storming and sabotage of its consulate in Basra, and Pakistan expressed concern about it. After an attack on an American diplomatic centre in Baghdad, the United States summoned the Iraqi ambassador and, according to one report, recalled its own from Baghdad. Saudi Arabia summoned Iraq's ambassador over what it called attacks from Iraqi territory, and later urged Iraq to address threats emanating from the Gulf responsibly. Bahrain summoned Iraq's chargé d'affaires to protest a note from Iraq. Iraqi officials stressed a ban on using the country's territory to threaten neighbouring nations. Iran's foreign minister spoke with Pakistan's military chief and the president of Iraq's Kurdistan region on 24 April.
Other items included the death sentences handed to 11 Islamic State members for plotting attacks on the state. A pro-Iran militia said it would release an American journalist, and three French nationals who had been held as Islamic State detainees in Iraq filed a lawsuit against France for war crimes, while a group of former child fighters jailed in Iraq sought repatriation to France.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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