The Iran war thrust Iraq’s powerful Iran-linked militias back into the spotlight, Anadolu reports. Throughout the conflict, armed groups operating from Iraq claimed attacks against US interests, carrying out drone and missile strikes linked to the wider confrontation, underscoring how quickly Iraq can be drawn into regional conflicts despite government efforts to stay on the sidelines. The violence also highlighted one of the biggest challenges facing Iraq’s new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who has made bringing weapons under state control a central priority of his administration. Ibrahim al-Marashi, an associate professor of modern Iraqi history at California State University, San Marcos, said Iraq’s leadership faces an increasingly delicate balancing act. “Zaidi will have to balance between a chastened US failing […]