Iraqi parliament elects Nizar Amedi as country's new president
An Iraqi soldier casting vote in special elections. PHOTO: AFP
The Iraqi parliament on Saturday elected Kurdish politician Nizar Amedi as the country's new president, a largely ceremonial role, following a parliamentary election last November.
Amedi, 58, is a former environment minister and has headed the political office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in Baghdad since 2024.
United States President Donald Trump 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.
An alliance of 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.
Read More: Pakistan condemns attack on Kuwaiti consulate in Basra, terms it violation of diplomatic norms
Senior US and Iranian officials are meeting in Islamabad in the highest-level talks between Washington and Tehran in half a century in an effort to end the war.
In Iraq, which has long trodden a tightrope between Iran and the US, its closest allies, the prime minister wields significant power.
Under Iraq's sectarian power-sharing system, the prime minister must be a Shia Muslim, the parliamentary speaker a Sunni Muslim and the president a Kurd.