President Barham Salih appointed Mustafa al-Kadhimi as Iraq’s prime minister after Adnan al-Zurfi failed to form a government. Iran’s diplomatic spokesperson welcomed the nomination by describing it as “a right step in the right direction” and expressed “full readiness to cooperate with the Iraqi government so that it can overcome the problems and achieve the great goals of the Iraqi people and the top religious authority”. A senior U.S. official said “it’s a sad defeat for the people of Iraq that Zurfi did not get a change after being designated to present his slate of ministers”. He also described al-Kadhimi, as “impressive in his own right” and opined: “if he is an Iraqi patriot, which he appears to be, and is going to be fighting for reform against corruption and for Iraqi sovereignty, as the Iraqi patriot that he is, then this is something that’s also going to create problems for Iran, undoubtedly”.