Qassem Soleimani's Talks in Baghdad 'to Form Iraq's Future Government'

Two informed sources about the political contacts in Iraq said on Wednesday, May 15, that Qassem Soleimani is negotiating with Iraqi politicians in Baghdad with the aim of shaping a new cabinet in Iraq that is approved by Iran. According to Reuters, Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, traveled to Baghdad on Saturday coinciding with the parliamentary elections in Iraq. Preliminary results of the nationwide vote count show that surprisingly, the list of supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr is ahead of other groups. Muqtada al-Sadr, a populist Shia cleric who is not aligned with the Iranian government, entered the elections based on a nationalist agenda and focused on public dissatisfaction with widespread financial corruption and deep social divides. According to a person who acts as an intermediary between Muqtada al-Sadr, other politicians, and a Shia candidate for the prime minister, Qassem Soleimani is negotiating to facilitate the formation of a coalition Shia government with rival groups. Formal negotiations to form a coalition will begin after the completion of the vote count, which is expected to take several more days. Iran publicly announced before the Iraqi elections that it would not allow supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, who is a heterogeneous coalition of Shia, communists, and several other secular groups, to come to power. Mr. Sadr has also explicitly stated that he is unwilling to compromise with Iran and will not ally with its main allied groups, including Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr militia group, or Nouri al-Maliki. An analysis of the preliminary election results by Reuters over the past three days shows that Muqtada al-Sadr's coalition is in first place in terms of votes, followed by Hadi al-Amiri, one of Iran's closest allies and a friend of Qassem Soleimani, and in third place is Haider al-Abadi, the current Prime Minister of Iraq. Haider al-Abadi managed to garner both U.S. and Iranian support during the three-year war against the Islamic State militants. The elections on Saturday were the first voting after the military defeat of the Islamic State group, which captured large parts of northern and western Iraq in 2014 with a surprise offensive. The Quds Force, under the command of Qassem Soleimani, is the main supporter of the Badr group led by Hadi al-Amiri. The Badr group is the backbone of the Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi), a volunteer force formed to fight against the Islamic State.