President Donald Trump has threatened to end US support for Iraq if former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wins power again.
Maliki, who has links to Iran, was selected at the weekend by an alliance of Shia-led parties as its nominee for prime minister.
The US president wrote on Truth Social that Maliki would be a “very bad choice”, adding: “Last time Maliki was in power, the Country descended into poverty and total chaos.”
Maliki, whose time in office between 2006 and 2014 was marked by sectarian violence, stepped down after Islamic State seized large parts of the country.
After being endorsed by a Shia coalition known as the Coordination Framework on Saturday, Maliki would then normally be nominated by the president, who holds a largely ceremonial role.
Iraq’s parliament was set to elect a president on Tuesday but the vote was delayed after the presidential candidate could not be agreed on.
Influential Shia groups in Baghdad have varying links to neighbouring Iran’s Islamic Republic, which is also controlled by Shia clerics.
Washington has voiced concerns about Iranian-linked groups deepening its influence in the region, including Iraq.
Trump said the country would have “zero” chance of success without US support after vowing to “no longer help” the country if Maliki was elected.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressed concern about Maliki’s links to Iran during a call with incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Sunday, emphasising “that a government controlled by Iran cannot successfully put Iraq’s own interest first”.
Trump has frequently bucked precedence by intervening in other countries’ elections, backing fellow right-wing candidates in elections in Poland, Romania and Honduras, where the US-backed winner was inaugurated on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the American military seized then-Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro in order for him to face trial in New York.
Maliki led Iraq after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which led to the removal and eventual execution of Saddam Hussein who had overseen a brutal repression of Shia Muslims over three decades.
During his time in office, Maliki led a chaotic period during which sectarian violence escalated between Kurdish and Sunni groups.
The aggressive crackdown on opponents was blamed for radicalising the Islamic State group of Sunni extremists, which came to control large swathes of territory and several key cities by the time Maliki stepped down in 2014.
