BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s parliament voted Saturday to elect Nizar Amidi, a political official with one of the country’s two main Kurdish parties, as president, five months after a parliamentary election that didn’t produce a bloc with a decisive majority.
His election comes as Iraq is reeling from the fallout of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. Iraq became caught in the middle of the conflict, with Iran-backed militias launching attacks on U.S. bases and diplomatic facilities as well as on critical energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, the U.S. and Israel carried out airstrikes targeting the militias, some of which killed members of the Iraqi military.
The war and Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz also largely halted the oil exports upon which Iraq’s economy depends.
Amidi, a member of the political bureau of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, beat out a roster of candidates that included Iraq’s current Foreign Minister, Fuad Hussein, who was the pick of the rival Kurdistan Democratic Party.
By convention, Iraq’s president is always Kurdish, while the more powerful prime minister is Shiite and the parliamentary speaker is Sunni.
The vote to elect a president took place more than two months past the constitutional deadline, which requires a president to be elected within 30 days after the first session held by a newly elected parliament.
Amidi, an engineer born in northern Iraq’s Dohuk province, previously served as an aide to two other presidents, Jalal Talabani and Fouad Massoum.
No candidate secured the required two-thirds majority in the first round of voting Saturday, although Amidi was far ahead of the other 15 candidates, securing 208 votes in the first round, while the second candidate — Muthanna Amin Nader, a parliamentarian from the Kurdistan Islamic Union bloc — received 17 votes. As a result, the parliament proceeded to a second round, where the winner is determined by a simple plurality of votes.
Amidi secured 227 votes in the second round, while Nader received 15 votes.
According to the Iraqi constitution, the president has 15 days to task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a government and assuming the position of prime minister. The dominant bloc, the Shiite Coordination Framework, a coalition of Iran-allied parties, announced in January that it would nominate former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, despite opposition from Washington.
The bloc will now have to decide whether to proceed with the nomination of al-Maliki or select another candidate. Current Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani had been al-Maliki’s main rival for the nomination before stepping aside to clear the path for him.
Members of the Iraqi parliament appear before entering the parliament hall to elect the President of the Republic in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Members of the Iraqi parliament arrive at the hall of the parliament to elect a president of the republic in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
Guards prepare for the arrival of Parliament members at the parliament building hall to elect the President of the Republic, in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, April11, 2026. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United States and Iran began face-to-face negotiations Saturday in Pakistan, days after a fragile, two-week ceasefire was announced, as the war that has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets entered its seventh week.
The White House confirmed the direct nature of the talks, a rare instance of high-level U.S. government engagement with the Iranian government.
Iran's state-run news agency said three-party talks including Pakistan had begun after Iranian preconditions, including a reduction in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, were met, and after U.S. and Iranian officials met separately with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
The U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance and the Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf were discussing how to advance the ceasefire already threatened by deep disagreements and Israel's continued attacks against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979, the most direct U.S. contact had been in September 2013 when President Barack Obama called newly elected President Hassan Rouhani to discuss Iran’s nuclear program. The recent highest-level meetings were between Secretary of State John Kerry and counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif during negotiations over the program.
Iran doubled down on parts of its earlier proposal, with its delegation telling Iranian state television it had presented some of the plan’s ideas as “red lines” in meetings with Sharif. Those included compensation for damage caused by the U.S.-Israeli strikes that launched the war on Feb. 28 and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
The war has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, 1,953 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states, and caused lasting damage to infrastructure in half a dozen Middle Eastern countries. Iran's chokehold on the vital Strait of Hormuz has largely cut off the Persian Gulf and its oil and gas exports from the global economy, sending energy prices soaring.
Reflecting the high stakes, officials from the region said Chinese, Egyptian, Saudi and Qatari officials were in Islamabad to indirectly facilitate the talks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.
In Tehran, residents told The Associated Press they were skeptical yet hopeful about the talks after weeks of airstrikes left destruction across their country of some 93 million people. Some said the path to recovery would be long.
“Peace alone is not enough for our country, because we’ve been hit very hard, there have been huge costs,” 62-year-old Amir Razzai Far said.
Meanwhile, Israel pressed ahead with strikes in Lebanon after saying there is no ceasefire there. Iran and Pakistan have disagreed. The Lebanese state-run news agency reported at least three people killed.
President Donald Trump ahead of the talks accused Iran of using the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global energy supplies, for extortion, and told reporters Friday it would be opened “with or without them.”
Iran’s closure of the strait has proved its biggest strategic advantage in the war. Around a fifth of the world’s traded oil had typically passed through on over 100 ships a day. Only 12 have been recorded transiting since the ceasefire.
Iran has floated the idea of charging ships, though the idea has been widely rejected by countries including the United States and Iran’s neighbor Oman.
On Saturday, Trump said on social media that the U.S. had begun “clearing out” the strait, but it was unclear whether he was referring to the reported use of mines there or Iran’s broader ability to control the area.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said Tehran was entering negotiations with “deep distrust” after strikes on Iran during previous rounds of talks. Araghchi, part of Iran’s delegation in Pakistan, said Saturday that his country was prepared to retaliate if attacked again.
Iran and the United States outlined competing proposals ahead of the talks.
Iran’s 10-point proposal called for a guaranteed end to the war and sought control over the Strait of Hormuz. It included ending fighting against Iran’s “regional allies," explicitly calling for a halt to Israeli strikes on Hezbollah.
The United States’ 15-point proposal includes restricting Iran’s nuclear program and reopening the strait.
Negotiations between Israel and Lebanon are expected to begin Tuesday in Washington, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun’s office said Friday, after Israel's surprise announcement authorizing talks despite the countries lack of official relations.
Israel wants the Lebanese government to assume responsibility for disarming Hezbollah, much like was envisaged in a November 2024 ceasefire. But it is unclear whether Lebanon's army can confiscate weapons from the militant group, which has survived efforts to curb its strength for decades.
Israel’s insistence that the ceasefire in Iran does not include a pause in its fighting with Hezbollah has threatened to sink the deal. The militant group joined the war in support of Iran in the opening days. Israel followed up with airstrikes and a ground invasion.
The day the Iran ceasefire deal was announced, Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes, killing more than 300 people in the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began, according to the country's Health Ministry.
The spot price of Brent crude, the international standard for oil prices, was above $94 on Saturday, up more than 30% since the war started.
And new pressures emerged in Europe for travelers.
The head of Airports Council International-Europe, Olivier Jankovec, warned the European Union that a ″systemic jet fuel shortage’’ could come within three weeks because of the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
Jankovec said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that the crunch could impact the summer travel season and ″significantly harm the European economy.’′
Metz reported from Jerusalem, Castillo from Beijing and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed.
Colleagues mourn over the coffins during the funeral of 13 state security officers killed the previous day in an Israeli strike in the Lebanese coastal city of Sidon, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Prime Minister Office, Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, left, meets with hand with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026 (Pakistan Prime Minister Office via AP)
Mohammed, 8, weeps next to the coffin of his father, Hussein Makkah, during the funeral of 13 state security officers killed the previous day in an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s coastal city of Sidon, Lebanon, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Members of the media work at a media center setup for the coverage of the US-Iran talks, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
In this photo released by the Pakistan Prime Minister Office, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, left, shakes hand with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif prior to their meeting, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026 (Pakistan Prime Minister Office via AP)
Mohammed, 8, weeps next to the coffin of his father, Hussein Makkah, during the funeral of 13 state security officers killed the previous day in an Israeli strike in Lebanon’s coastal city of Sidon, Lebanon, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A Pakistani official is seen during the arrival of the U.S. Vice President JD Vance for talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, center, walks with Pakistan's Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of Army Staff Field Marshall Asim Munir, left, and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar after arriving for talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
Displaced families extend their hands while waiting for donated food beside the tents they use as shelters after fleeing Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A Lebanese civil defense worker, right, stands with a resident at the site of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Police officers take position in Islamabad, Pakistan, to ensure security ahead of possible negotiations between Iran and the United States, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
Vice President JD Vance walks to speak with the Press before boarding Air Force Two, Friday, April 10, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md., for expected departure to Pakistan, for talks on Iran. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, pool)
A police officer walks past a billboard regarding the United States and Iran negotiations, outside a media facilitation center in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed)
