<p>The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/iraq">Iraqi </a>parliament on Saturday elected Kurdish politician Nizar Amedi as the country's new president, a largely ceremonial role, following a parliamentary election last November.</p><p>Amedi, 58, is a former environment minister and has headed the political office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Baghdad since 2024.</p><p>Iraq is now due to choose a prime minister, a closely-watched and sensitive pick.</p><p>US President <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/Donald%20Trump">Donald Trump</a> threatened in January to withdraw Washington's support for Iraq, a major oil producer, if former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was designated to form a cabinet.</p>.Mojtaba Khamenei thanks Iraq for support days after Trump's 'we don't know if he is living' claim.<p>An alliance of Shi'ite political blocs holding a parliamentary majority has nominated Iran-backed Maliki, alarming Washington, which along with Israel waged a six-week war with Iran until a ceasefire was announced on Tuesday.</p><p>Senior US and Iranian officials were meeting in Islamabad on Saturday in the highest-level talks between Washington and Tehran in half a century in an effort to end the war.</p><p>In Iraq, which has long trodden a tightrope between Iran and the US, its closest allies, the prime minister wields significant power.</p><p>Under Iraq's sectarian power-sharing system, the prime minister must be a Shi'ite Muslim, the parliamentary speaker a Sunni Muslim, and the president a Kurd. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/iraq">Iraqi </a>parliament on Saturday elected Kurdish politician Nizar Amedi as the country's new president, a largely ceremonial role, following a parliamentary election last November.</p><p>Amedi, 58, is a former environment minister and has headed the political office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Baghdad since 2024.</p><p>Iraq is now due to choose a prime minister, a closely-watched and sensitive pick.</p><p>US President <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/Donald%20Trump">Donald Trump</a> threatened in January to withdraw Washington's support for Iraq, a major oil producer, if former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was designated to form a cabinet.</p>.Mojtaba Khamenei thanks Iraq for support days after Trump's 'we don't know if he is living' claim.<p>An alliance of Shi'ite political blocs holding a parliamentary majority has nominated Iran-backed Maliki, alarming Washington, which along with Israel waged a six-week war with Iran until a ceasefire was announced on Tuesday.</p><p>Senior US and Iranian officials were meeting in Islamabad on Saturday in the highest-level talks between Washington and Tehran in half a century in an effort to end the war.</p><p>In Iraq, which has long trodden a tightrope between Iran and the US, its closest allies, the prime minister wields significant power.</p><p>Under Iraq's sectarian power-sharing system, the prime minister must be a Shi'ite Muslim, the parliamentary speaker a Sunni Muslim, and the president a Kurd. </p>