Trump warns he could cut off Iraq if it supports Tehran, after Shiite bloc nominates pro-Iranian PM & Iraqi Hezbollah threatens ‘total war’

With most countries throughout the Middle East either preparing to support a potential U.S. strike against the Iranian regime or striving to position themselves to avoid possible blowback, Iraq has been a notable exception.

The country’s most potent military power, the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia, recently declared it would join the Iranian regime in a war against the United States, while the Shiite political bloc nominated former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who is seen as a supporter of Tehran, to return to his post.

With the Iranian regime appearing to be losing ground on every other front, it is likely to see its influence in Iraq as key to its survival, especially as the U.S. continues to pull back its military from the country.

Amid these developments, U.S. President Donald Trump followed up a call to the Iraqi prime minister by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio with a warning of his own, saying the United States would cut off all support if Iraq were to make the “bad choice” of returning Maliki to the premiership.

Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump,

MAKE IRAQ GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/qEFf1LLaAB

— Mark Savaya (@Mark_Savaya) January 27, 2026

"Last time Maliki was in power, the Country descended into poverty and total chaos. That should not be allowed to happen again," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

"Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if (he is) elected the United States of America will no longer help Iraq and, if we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom. MAKE IRAQ GREAT AGAIN!"

On Sunday, Rubio explicitly cautioned Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani against forming a pro-Iranian government, said State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott.

While our team works on the ground in Iraq to support the formation of a new government and to prevent Iranian backed militias from rising to positions of power, it is equally and even more critical to prepare for confronting the corruption crisis in Iraq. This effort must go…

— Mark Savaya (@Mark_Savaya) January 27, 2026

Rubio warned that “a government controlled by Iran cannot successfully put Iraq’s own interests first, keep Iraq out of regional conflicts, or advance the mutually beneficial partnership between the United States and Iraq,” Pigott stated.

Further raising U.S. pressure, Trump's special envoy to Iraq, Mark Savaya, said on Tuesday that his team was working to "prevent Iranian-backed militias from rising to positions of power."

He also said it was "critical to prepare for confronting the corruption crisis in Iraq," adding, "We now have a comprehensive understanding of the individuals involved, including senior government officials and members of their families who benefited from corrupt Iraqi funds."

The Iraqi parliament had planned to elect a new president on Tuesday, who would then be tasked to appoint a new prime minister. However, the Tuesday meeting was postponed because of disputes among the Kurdish parties, which must nominate the candidate for the office that is reserved for Kurdish Iraqis.

Iraq’s parliament is set to elect a new president Tuesday, a move that could shift the balance between U.S. and Iranian influence in Baghdad.
More in this report from @ariel_oseran pic.twitter.com/irKK9XynIj

— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) January 27, 2026

Nevertheless, the looming nomination of Maliki, who has already garnered a new endorsement from Iran, threatens to reignite tensions in Iraq.

Maliki was first elected to office in 2006 with U.S. support, becoming the first prime minister after the U.S. invasion in 2003. Initially, he threw his support behind American efforts to fight al-Qaeda and other Sunni militant groups.

However, once they were weakened, he opened the country to broad Iranian influence, while the regime supported the Shiite insurgency against U.S. troops. When the ISIS terror group captured large swathes of the country, he oversaw the creation of the largely Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), whose main loyalty lies with the Iranian Supreme Leader, despite having been incorporated into the Iraqi state military.

The U.S. has been pushing to dismantle these terror groups, which receive their weapons and equipment from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force.

On Sunday, the secretary-general of Kataib Hezbollah, one of the PMF’s most powerful sub-units, instructed his fighters to prepare for “total war” in support of the Iranian regime.

Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi called on “mujahideen across the land to prepare for total war in support of” the regime, which he said has “stood by the weak, without discrimination over sect, race or color, for over four decades.”

After the secretary-general of Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, signed a volunteer form to supposedly fight on behalf of Iran, members of the pro-Iranian militia also signed “martyrdom” forms to defend the Islamic nation.@sapirlipkin pic.twitter.com/XttA2OloHg

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) January 27, 2026

“Zionists across the earth are trying to destroy Iran,” he said, calling on the other members of Iran’s proxy network to support the regime. The next day, he signed a "volunteer form" to fight on behalf of Iran at a recruitment center in Baghdad.

Unlike the Yemeni Houthis, Kataib Hezbollah and other PMF units did not support Iran during the 12-day war with Israel last June.

The Iranian-backed Coordination Framework, the bloc uniting most of Iraq’s Shiite political factions – which had nominated Maliki – quickly distanced itself from Hamidawi’s calls.

An official source in the bloc told the Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat news outlet that Kataib Hezbollah’s “behavior and statements at this time are inappropriate and only further complicate the situation in Iraq.”

“The government is not prepared to join any war with any party,” the source stressed, adding that it is doubtful whether other factions would heed Hamidawi’s call “because they are aware that they cannot confront the US, just as they were aware during the 12-day war that they did not join.”

The U.S. has earlier this month continued to draw down the remnants of its military presence in the country, including in the Ain al-Asad Air base in western Iraq. However, amid the clashes in neighboring Syria, it also continues to rely on a friendly government in Baghdad, as the U.S. military has begun the process of transferring some 7,000 former ISIS terrorists to prisons in Iraq.

Two weeks ago, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that Tehran was “pleased” with the evacuation of the Ain al-Asad base.

At a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart Fuad Hussain in Tehran, Araghchi said the withdrawal was a sign of “the strengthening of independence, stability, and political sovereignty in Iraq.”

Meanwhile, Maliki’s path back to the premiership remains uncertain, with the new date for the presidential nomination still unknown at the time of publication and opposition from Sunni figures and rival Shiite leaders expected to intensify.