BAGHDAD, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- Tehran will deal amicably with whatever government emerges from the political deadlock in Iraq, the Iranian envoy to Baghdad said.
Iraq still has no government after voters in March gave the secular Iraqiya slate a two-seat victory. The party says that as the victor, it has the right to form a government first. It is short of the 163 seats needed for outright control of the legislature, however.
Hassan Danayeefar, the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, told the Voices of Iraq news agency that Tehran would support any government that came out of the political impasse.
"Arguments on who will lead the government is an internal affair and the Iraqi parties will determine who will become the new premier," he was quoted as saying.
Members of Iraqiya told the pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat that there was no pressure from Washington to choose any particular slate or candidate.
Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, himself a candidate for prime minister, maintained that Baghdad was dealing with its political issues as a sovereign state.
The vice president told Asharq al-Awsat last week that Washington has no preference in who becomes the next prime minister.
"(U.S. Vice President Joe) Biden stressed that his country does not back a specific prime minister and welcomes what the political forces agree upon for leading a national partnership government capable of leading the country in a democratic and partnership spirit," he said.
