2023 in review: Iraq's pro-Iran factions make gains, but so do Sunni groups

A military marching band plays outside during the first provincial council elections in a decade, at a polling station in the central city of Najaf, on December 18, 2023. The vote comes at a time of widespread disillusionment among the country's 43 million inhabitants, with endemic corruption eating away at the oil-rich nation. (Photo by Qassem al-KAABI / AFP) (Photo by QASSEM AL-KAABI/AFP via Getty Images)

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Iraqi election officials empty a ballot box before counting the votes in a constitutional referendum after the closing of a polling station in Basra, 420 km (261 miles) southeast of Baghdad April 20, 2013. Voter participation in Iraq's provincial election on Saturday was 50 percent of eligible voters, the country's electoral authorities said after poll stations closed. Election officials said including results from a special vote a week earlier for members of the armed forces, total participation would be m

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2023 in review: Iraq's pro-Iran factions make gains, but so do Sunni groups

Subscribe for less than $9/month to access this story and all Al-Monitor reporting.