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Iraq's highest court has thwarted the ambitions of both Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, creating the circumstances for continued instability in Iraqi political affairs.
Syria has witnessed another year of extreme suffering in 2022, with the next 12 months expected to get worse for other reasons. We spell out the three key issues that will affect Syrians in 2023.
Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has continued to forge ahead with his ambitions of being the power behind Iraq's major political institutions, sowing chaos in the country until his demands are met.
After failing to build a majority coalition, Sadr's mass resignation 'protest' move against systemic corruption will achieve little more than the further delegitimisation of Iraq's political processes.
Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is part and parcel of the system that many Iraqis have called to reform or replace, with his appointment unlikely to resolve the root causes behind popular anger repeatedly flaring up over the past 19 years.
With a complex web of politics and military power converging in Sinjar, it appears clear that Iraq is once again being used as a chessboard for regional and domestic ambitions to be played out among rivals.
With the Shia cleric raising doubts over the legality of the elections he himself had won, there are signs that disparate political forces are manoeuvring to seal a deal that will finally see a government formed.
In a severely turbulent political environment, a newly leaked set of audio recordings of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki insulting prominent leaders and inciting sectarian divisions threatens to destabilise Iraq even further.
As Iran comes under increased pressure from geopolitical rivals regarding sanctions, oil, and the nuclear deal, it has turned to hard power to assert its regional influence and hide its nerves.
The political instability that has wrangled Iraq since October's elections has spilled over into the Gulf, as Iran-backed Iraqi and Yemeni groups target the UAE.