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Iran-backed Shia Militias A Threat To Iraq, Region (S01E60)
April 30, 2026
Iraq this week agreed on a new prime minister-designate, a relatively unknown player, who was blessed by the constellation of Shia political parties, power brokers, and armed factions who dominate the country.
Ali al-Zaid, born 1986, is relatively young businessman whose interests include media and supermarkets. He succeeds Mohammed al-Sudani after a weeks-long deadlock that followed the Americans’ threats to withold Iraq’s own money if it renamed former prime minister Nouri Maliki to the top post.
Adding to the tensions between Iraq and the US was the role of Iraq’s…
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