Iraq PM candidate Al-Maliki meets senior US diplomat

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki leaves after casting his ballot at a polling station in Baghdad on November 11, 2025 during Iraq's parliamentary elections. (AFP)
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Updated 28 February 2026
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Iraq PM candidate Al-Maliki meets senior US diplomat

  • Last month President Donald Trump intervened in Iraq’s affairs by issuing an ultimatum that if Al-Maliki — a two-time former premier with close ties to Iran — was named Iraq’s next prime minister, the US would no longer help the country

BAGHDAD: The leading candidate to become Iraq’s next prime minister, Nouri Al-Maliki, met with US diplomat Tom Barrack on Friday after refusing to withdraw his nomination despite the US threatening to stop supporting the country if he returns to the post.
Barrack, the US envoy to Syria and ambassador to Turkiye, has recently visited Iraq multiple times to meet with senior officials.
Maliki’s media office said in a short statement that the PM candidate stressed during the meeting “the need to respect Iraq’s sovereignty and the will of its people.”
He also spoke of the “importance of supporting the democratic process and strengthening political stability” in Iraq.
It wasn’t clear what message Barrack conveyed to Maliki.
Last month President Donald Trump intervened in Iraq’s affairs by issuing an ultimatum that if Al-Maliki — a two-time former premier with close ties to Iran — was named Iraq’s next prime minister, the US would no longer help the country.
Trump’s threat left Iraqi leaders at a loss, particularly within the Coordination Framework — a ruling alliance of Shiite groups with varying degrees of links to Iran that nominated Maliki.
Earlier this week, Al-Maliki told AFP he would not withdraw his nomination, while also seeking to allay Washington’s concerns.
“I have absolutely no intention of withdrawing out of respect for my country, its sovereignty, and its will,” Al-Maliki told AFP in an interview.
 

 


Israel says carrying out ‘large-scale strikes’ on Tehran

Updated 39 min 39 sec ago
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Israel says carrying out ‘large-scale strikes’ on Tehran

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said it launched “large-scale strikes” on Tehran on Monday, two days since the start of a US-Israeli campaign against Iran.
“The Israeli Air Force... has begun an additional wave of strikes against the Iranian terror regime at the heart of Tehran,” the military said in a statement. 

Israei's new “large-scale” strikes followed mile fire from Iran that injured three people in Jerusalem late on Sunday. 


“A direct impact of a munition was identified on one of the main roads in Jerusalem,” police said in a statement, sharing footage showing officers at a highway section littered with rubble.
Israel’s emergency medical service Magen David Adom said three people were injured, including a 46-year-old man with moderate shrapnel wounds.
The medical organization earlier said several others were treated for light injuries at the site.
AFP journalists heard a series of loud blasts above the city, after the Israeli military said it had detected missiles launched from Iran.
Israel’s Kan public television and Channel 12 broadcast footage showing police officers and rescuers deployed in areas where visible damage could be seen, one “in the center of the country” and the other in the Jerusalem area.
In the Jerusalem area, the footage showed a road strewn with debris and rocks.
In the center of the country, damaged cars could be seen.
Military censorship prohibits the media from disclosing the exact locations of the impact sites.

In other developments:

• The European Union has warned of the cost to the Middle East of a long war, and said it was reinforcing its naval mission in the Red Sea with additional vessels as Iran’s retaliation to US-Israeli strikes threatens maritime traffic, a European diplomat said.
Two new French ships will join the EU’s Aspides mission, bringing to five the number of warships taking part, the diplomat told AFP.

• Gulf states vowed to defend themselves against Iranian attacks, including by “responding to the aggression” if need be, after the Gulf Cooperation Council convened via video-link to formulate a unified response.

• Top US officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make the case Tuesday to Congress for the attack on Iran. Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and military chief General Dan Caine “will brief the full membership of both chambers of Congress,” White House spokesman Dylan Johnson said.

• Container shipping company Maersk said it was halting passage through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz for “safety” reasons.
The Danish group was the latest of several shipping groups to make similar announcements after Iran’s Revolutionary Guards declared the strait closed on Saturday.

• Seven people were injured in the Jerusalem area following the latest salvo of missiles fired from Iran, Israeli firefighters said.

• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had agreed to let the United States use UK bases to fire “defensive” strikes aimed at destroying Iranian missiles and their launchers. But in a video address posted to social media, he added: “We were not involved in the initial strikes on Iran and we will not join offensive action now.

• Iranian media reported that a police station in a city on the outskirts of Tehran had been hit, killing an unspecified number of people, with others reportedly trapped under debris. “According to initial reports, a number of citizens were martyred and some were trapped under the rubble,” the Tasnim news agency reported.

• Iranian news agency ISNA reported that Gandhi hospital in northern Tehran had been targeted by strikes. The Fars and Mizan agencies published a video, presented as being from inside the facility, showing debris on the floor among wheelchairs.