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Middle East|As Iraqis Vote for a Parliament, U.S. Presses to Rid Country of Iran’s Influence
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/11/world/middleeast/iraq-parliamentary-election-vote.html
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After a U.S. occupation, years of sectarian violence and a jihadist insurgency, Iraq has become an improbable haven of calm in the Middle East.
Nov. 11, 2025, 12:01 a.m. ET
From rooftops to lampposts, campaign posters compete for every inch of Baghdad’s streets. There are pictures of politicians wearing hard hats and slogans vowing “strength and prosperity.”
Concrete walls that once shielded buildings from car bombs now protect glitzy new apartment developments, promising cafes, gyms and spas.
After a long U.S. occupation, years of sectarian bloodshed and a jihadist insurgency, Iraq has become an improbable haven of calm in the Middle East, at least relative to many other parts of the region. Safeguarding this hard-won peace is a top priority for Iraqis as parliamentary elections get underway on Tuesday.
“The Iraqi people have reached a point where they can no longer tolerate conflict and wars and all these misadventures,” Mohammed al-Sudani, the prime minister, told The New York Times in an interview last week. “People want stability, security and development.”
More than 7,700 candidates from 114 party lists are competing for 329 seats. Once the results are in, there will be weeks, and possibly months, of negotiating for parties to forge a coalition with the largest share of seats, and then form a government.
Mr. al-Sudani, often credited for Iraq’s stability and a construction boom, heads an alliance of parties expected to win the most votes. But some of his former political allies have vowed to prevent him from forming a ruling coalition to gain a second term.
