An Iran-backed militia calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has announced a purported $10 million reward for anyone who kills US President Donald Trump, citing the 2020 killing of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis as justification.
The Pentagon said the September pullout fulfils a 2024 agreement with Baghdad. American troop levels, once above 170,000 during the Iraq war, have steadily declined to a small advisory force ahead of the final withdrawal.
The most enduring consequence of a war is often not what happens on the battlefield, but what it reveals about the institutions that authorise it.
An explosion aboard the Panama-flagged MSC Sariska V has triggered competing narratives, with Iran claiming a retaliatory strike and Iraqi reports pointing towards a possible technical failure.
The attacks come as regional tensions continue to escalate, with the ongoing US-Israel conflict involving Iran entering its 36th day. Iran-backed militias have repeatedly targeted US military positions in Iraq and neighbouring areas in recent weeks.
No group has claimed the responsibility for the attack but Washington has blamed Iran-backed factions for similar attacks.
Allawi was nominated on February 1 as a consensus candidate among Iraq's fractured political parties but has only been publicly endorsed by Sadr, who has a cult-like following across the country.
The appointment of Mohammed Allawi as the new Prime Minister of the embattled country after an 11th-hour consensus among political blocs has been greeted with a people’s upheaval.
The 65-year-old Allawi held the post of Communications Minister in the government of Nouri al-Maliki before quitting in 2012 over what he described as "political interference" by the then-Prime Minister.
Since the US assassinated Iran’s Quds Force leader General Qasem Suleimani and Iraqi military figure Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis earlier this month, Iraq has become the battleground for both Iran and the US.
